Airbus Helicopters has signed with All Nippon Helicopter (ANH) a five-year HCare Smart parts-by-the-hour contract for the customer’s first H160, demonstrating strong commitment to the entry into service of the aircraft.
Under this customised HCare material management programme, ANH’s H160 is guaranteed the supply of spare parts and repaired parts at a fixed rate per flight hour. With a dedicated pool of parts maintained by Airbus, the customer will be able to benefit from optimised inventory and maintenance cost control.
The first ever multi-role H160 helicopter was delivered from Airbus’ facility in Kobe in December 2021, where flight training and specialised equipment installation for electronic news gathering are being performed for the helicopter’s entry into service in Japan this year.
“This being the first HCare Smart contract for the H160 programme is particularly meaningful for Airbus. The ability to support a long-standing customer such as All Nippon Helicopter, as they launch the new helicopter in the country is even more gratifying. With our highly adaptive HCare offer ensuring aircraft availability, we are confident that ANH’s H160 will always be mission-ready for all its demanding operations,” said Bruno Even, Airbus Helicopters CEO.
“Safety, availability and speed are core tenets of our news gathering business. As we prepare to introduce this new aircraft to our fleet, we are happy to be the first to benefit from this part availability programme for the H160. We can now fully focus on our operations while Airbus takes care of the material support. We look forward to a smooth entry into service and seeing the H160 becoming a reliable asset in the country,” said Jun Yanagawa, President of All
Nippon Helicopter.
ANH deploys an Airbus helicopter fleet comprising five AS365s and five H135s. The new H160 will soon join its current fleet for electronic news gathering for the TV stations across Japan.
HCare is Airbus’ comprehensive services offering, delivering tailor-made and competitive solutions to customers. It spans five domains: material management, helicopter maintenance, technical support, training and flight operations, and connected services, with experts available on-call 24/7.