Cape Town based Aerios Global Aviation (AGA) has placed an order with Airbus for a five-blade variant of the H145 making it the first African based operator to fly the type. The company intends to operate the the aircraft on a wide variety of missions including VIP flights, maritime crew transfers, wind farm support as well as in SAR and HEMS across South Africa as well as in neighbouring countries.
The five blade variant of the twin engine H145 boosts useful load by 150Kg compared with its four-blade stablemate. In addition, the bearingless main rotor design simplifies maintenance and aircraft availability. Commenting on the announcement AGA CEO, Malcolm Pitcher said “The latest multirole version of the H145 was the move we had wanted to make since it was first announced. We already operate two H145 helicopters. The latest H145 is perfect for our current and future operations. We are paving the way by pioneering such an acquisition in our country and region. ” The aircraft is due for delivery early next year.
