Helicopters Air Center Helicopter signs HCare Smart contract with Airbus

The support package will cover a 10 helicopters strong fleet of H225 helicopters. The deal includes parts-by-the-hour contracts for the aircraft, which are currently in operation in the U.S. Armed Forces. Air Center Helicopter provides passenger transport, Special Operations Forces training, vertical replenishment and casualty evacuation missions.

According to Airbus, the HCare Smart contract will cover three years and was customized to meet the material support and spare part requirements of the operator. Airbus Helicopters also includes a dedicated spare parts consignment stock.

“Our in-service H225 fleet was repurposed from the offshore oil & gas market and retrofitted for new missions in just under one year,” said Rod Tinney, CEO of ACHI. “Today these 10 civilian helicopters are on contract performing military missions for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army in three countries and two oceans. In a short amount of time, they have already accumulated more than 3,000 flight hours. Having in-service support, we can rely on through HCare is indispensable and will help us continue this momentum, flying an expected 400 to 1000 flight hours per year per aircraft.”

“Thanks to ACHI’s innovative approach, these civil aircraft have been swiftly put back in service for new missions with military customers, making their H225 fleet among the world’s largest,” said Christoph Zammert, Executive Vice President of Customer Support & Services at Airbus Helicopters. “Ensuring aircraft availability through support packages tailored to the unique needs of military operators is an essential requirement, and one that we’re honoured to provide ACHI.”

The remaining seven H225s in ACHI´s fleet are currently undergoing a retrofit to be best suited for their new missions. All aircraft are expected to enter operation by March 2020. Airbus Helicopter stated, that as of today, around 55 former oil & gas H225s have been reconfigured for aerial work, utility and SAR missions.

Airbus´ HCare material management services start out with Easy (on-request catalogue services) and Smart (four by-the-hour options), before building up to Infinite. The service program of the manufacturer includes five main areas: Material Management, Helicopter Maintenance, MRO, Training and Technical Support.