Helicopters EASA certifies Airbus H125 performance increase

Helicopter manufacturer Airbus Helicopters has released a statement, in which the company announces the certification of a performance increase for the H125 helicopter. The certification was issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Last year, Airbus announced the planned performance increase for the helicopter at Heli-Expo. With the certification, Airbus is now allowed to deliver and retrofit H125s with an performance increase of up to 10% by making full use of the power available through the existing Safran Helicopter Engines Arriel 2D.

Axel Aloccio, Head of Light Helicopters Programme, commented: “It is our ambition to continuously improve our products and bring further competitive advantages to our customers […] The extra power offered by this major upgrade represents a 10% to 20% payload increase for a typical aerial work mission versus the aircraft’s current lifting capabilities and confirms the superiority of the H125 in terms of payload and value for money”.

As stated by Aloccio, the payload will increase with the upgrade. The maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of the aircraft will remain unchanged, while the hover ceiling Out of Ground Effect at MTOW can be increased by more than 1,500 ft to up to 12,600 ft.

Airbus Helicopters has also released, that this upgrade will be a standard feature with no additional costs for aircraft delivered in the future. This will be in place for all helicopters delivered from September 2021 onwards.

The retrofit solution will consist of a software upgrade that touches the Vertical and Engine Monitoring Display. This upgrade will be available at Thales via an in-shop retrofit or standard exchange.

According to the manufacturer, operators that fly missions in the EASA region will be able to retrofit their in-service H125 by the end of this month. In the coming months, Airbus Helicopters expects other aviation authorities to follow with their certifications.

„With more than 4,000 helicopters in service with about 1,500 global customers and 28.5 million accumulated flight hours, the H125 continues to lead the single engine helicopter market in all mission segments thanks to its high performance and multi-mission capacity. In the last 10 years 1,420 H125s have been delivered, resulting in a 52% market share,” Airbus concluded.