Milestone Aviation to Acquire 28 H175 Airbus Helicopters

Milestone Aviation Group, a GE Capital Aviation Services company which specialises in helicopter leasing, has increased its combined orders and options with Airbus Helicopters to a total of 28 H175s, the largest order for Airbus’ new super-medium-lift twin-engine rotorcraft.

Daniel Rosenthal, Milestone’s President, said, “We have been impressed by the H175’s successful introduction into service and felt it was the appropriate time to further our commitment to the aircraft.”

Airbus Helicopters’ H175 was designed to meet the most demanding oil and gas industry transportation requirements, offering new levels of comfort with the largest cabin in its class, as well as low inflight vibration and noise levels.

The rotorcraft provides a capacity of up to 18 passengers, low fuel consumption and the range to reach a large percentage of the world’s offshore installations.

“This latest agreement builds on our outstanding relationship with Milestone, who owns one of the most valuable Airbus civilian helicopter fleets in operation and on order in the world,” said Guillaume Faury, the President & CEO of Airbus Helicopters. “It also reinforces the H175 as an aircraft of choice in the super-medium category.”

The H175 entered service last December and is demonstrating high availability in more than 900 flight hours performed by customers to date. It is certified to the latest airworthiness standards, covering both the helicopter and the new Helionix avionics suite – providing increased safety through reduced pilot workload, enhanced situational awareness, improved flight envelope protection and system redundancy.

Contributing to the H175’s competitive edge is its recommended cruise speed of 150 kts., while the maximum cruise speed exceeds 165 kts. – all achieved at extremely low vibration levels.

The power performance for the H175 includes hover out of ground effect (HOGE) with a maximum 7.5-metric-ton take-off weight at 5,800 ft. at ISA+20°C conditions; one engine inoperative (OEI) hover performance, which ensures safety during hoisting for search and rescue missions; and extensive power reserve ensuring heli-deck performance (PC1) at maximum take-off weight in ISA+20°C conditions.

The helicopter’s radius-of-action in an oil and gas mission configuration enables 16 passengers to be transported to offshore rigs at distances of 140 nautical miles (NM.) on crew change flights, extending to nearly 200 NM. when 12 passengers are carried. Further certification of the H175 at an increased maximum take-off weight of 7,800 kg. will offer operators the ability to further expand the radius-of-action by 40 NM., or to carry 300 kg. of additional payload.

The H175 is a perfect complement to Airbus Helicopters’ heavy-lift H225, which is deployed worldwide by oil and gas airlift service providers.