Airbus secures deal with Ukraine for 55 helicopters

Airbus Helicopters has announced the biggest helicopter order at Farnborough so far, 55-helicopters for the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior.

The helicopters will be used for emergency medical service (EMS) missions across the country. The order comprises 21 repurposed H225s, ten new H145s and 24 H125s. As part of the transaction, Airbus will also set up a local training and maintenance centre in Kiev.

The deal was signed on 14 July in the presence of Arsen Avakov, Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Ukraine and Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters.

The H225s will be repurposed for search and rescue (SAR) missions and will be the first helicopters from the order to be delivered. Airbus notes that the H145 and H125s will be used for a variety of civil operations.

The H225 situation

This announcement comes just after the Accident investigation Board of Norway called on Airbus to redesign the gearbox for the H225 as part of its final report on the fatal H225 crash in that country in April 2016.

As a result of the crash, Norway and England grounded all H225s on their shores, a grounding that was lifted in July last year.

However, companies that had ordered the helicopter sued Airbus and sought compensation over the grounding. Notably, one of the world’s biggest operators, Era Group recently, received $42 million in damages compensation from Airbus.