Airbus Helicopters starts ‘H Generation’ at Heli-Expo

Airbus Helicopters H160 at Heli-Expo 2015 (Credit: Jerome Deulin Airbus Helicopters

Airbus Helicopters unveiled its brand new ‘H Generation’ series of helicopters starting with the H160 at Heli-Expo in Orlando last week, having rebranded its entire product line.

The H160 launch was revealed on the opening day of the show in the Orange County Convention Center.

Airbus Helicopters released a short video on the new H160, outlining everything that customers need to know.

The first flight of the H160 is planned later this year, followed by an entry into service in 2018.

Guillaume Faury, president and CEO of Airbus Helicopters, said: “Airbus Helicopters’ priorities of customer satisfaction, quality and safety, and competitiveness have been our drivers of success for this year’s show. Our teams are proud and excited to have introduced to the industry the H160, a helicopter which is a perfect example of what we mean when we say if it is important to our customers, it is essential to us.”

Also announced at the show was the news that The Bristow Group had tripled its orders for Airbus Helicopters’ H175. Deliveries will begin to Bristow in October 2016 for deployment in oil and gas operations.

Jonathan Baliff (left), president and CEO of Bristow Group and Guillaume Faury (right), president and CEO of Airbus Helicopters (Credit: Lorette Fabre – 2015)

Orders were place for four H135 helicopters. Norsk Luftambulanse AS signed an order for three H135s – adding to its emergency medical airlift operations in Norway and Denmark – and DL Helicopter Technik signed for one H135 to be used for amy and air force pilot training in Germany.

Jacques Cardaillac (left), Airbus Helicopters’ Head of Sales for Northern Europe and the Benelux countries and Norsk luftambulanse CEO Syver Leivestad (right) with teams (Credit: Lorette Fabre 2015)

Airbus Helicopters displayed on its booth the H145 for Dare County MedFlight, the North Carolina-based medical service provider that is the US launch customer for the H145 T2 variant.

Also announced at Heli-Expo was the completion of the first H125 (formally the AS350) in the US, performed on the Airbus Helicopters final assembly line in Columbus, Mississippi.

This new re-designated helicopter is now in completion prior to delivery. During the show, Servicios Aéreos de los Andes signed for three H125s (one firm order with the option of two more) for utility work in Peru.

Airbus Helicopters also displayed a gold-themed H130 to celebrate the Papillon Group’s golden 50th anniversary. Papillon Group is the world’s largest and longest-operating aerial tour operator.