Rotorcraft
Airbus Helicopters Delivers First Two EC175s to NHV
The handover ceremony took place in Marignane (South of France) on December 11.
Belgian operator NHV took delivery of the first two EC175s of a 16-aircraft order at a handover ceremony last month. (Photo: Frederic Lert)
Belgian operator NHV took delivery of the first two EC175s of a 16-aircraft order at a handover ceremony last month. (Photo: Frederic Lert)

Airbus Helicopters handed over the first two EC175s yesterday, to Belgian operator NHV (Noordzee Helicopters Vlaanderen), one of three launch customers for the type. Commercial operations are set to begin in late December in the North Sea with one helicopter, with the second standing by as a backup for at least the first few days.

“We have to make [the helicopter] a success…there is no other [option,]” said Guillaume Faury, CEO of Airbus Helicopters, during the December 11 handover ceremony in Marignane, France. Dedicated to the oil-and-gas market, the seven-ton EC175 fills the gap between the Dolphin and the Super Puma. According to Airbus Helicopters, 90 percent of the North Sea’s offshore installations are within reach of its new helicopter with 16 passengers on board and a crew of two.