Helicopters The Helicopter Company orders 26 Airbus Helicopters

The Helicopter Company (THC) has signed its second purchase agreement with European manufacturer Airbus. The company is the first and currently only services provider that is allowed to operate commercial flights with helicopters in the Kingdom and has now decided to further expand its business.

During a signing agreement, which Raid Ismail, Chairman of the Board of THC and Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters, His Excellency Khalid Al Falih, Minister of Investment and His Excellency Franck Riester, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness attended, THC signed for a total of 26 new Airbus Helicopters.

Recently, Airbus launched its new five-bladed H145, and THC has signed for 20 of these aircraft. Furthermore, six ACH160 business helicopters will join the operator´s fleet. Both aircraft feature state-of-the-art avionics and passenger comfort.

This second order comes after THC signed for 10 H125s previously. The order shows, that the operator is satisfied with the current fleet and wants to add more diversity to its aircraft portfolio. THC was established by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) that seeks to generate long-term commercial returns in various sectors throughout Saudi Arabia.

Raid Ismail, Chairman of the Board of THC, explained:

“Our mission is to create a world-class National Aviation Champion and today, by signing this agreement with our trusted partner Airbus, we mark an important milestone in our journey to grow together with the nation in focus to fulfil Saudi Vision 2030.”

“We are honored by the trust that THC is placing once again in our products and our teams and I am personally thrilled with this expansion of our partnership”, added Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters. “THC will be taking full benefit of Airbus’ latest innovations with the five-bladed H145 and the ACH160, which we are certain will be valuable assets in their portfolio, enabling them to develop operations in the country.”

THC´s commitment to introduce new routes and services with more technologically advanced aircraft can be met by the H145 and the ACH160. With the new aircraft, the fleet grows to nearly 40 helicopters and will widen the Kingdom´s aviation sector.