Airbus Helicopters gears up for significant increase in H175 production

Airbus Helicopters has started preparations to raise output of the H175 to 15-20 units per year on the back of strengthening demand for the super-medium-twin. Pitched squarely at offshore operators, the H175 entered service in 2014, just in time to see the oil and gas market begin cratering shortly after on the back of falling crude prices.

Having already ramped up production, Airbus Helicopters was forced in 2017 to scale back to the current rate of four to five aircraft per year, says programme manager Jerome Fagot. “Now with huge demand coming back there’s a fight for slots and a need to ramp back up again,” he told journalists on 15 February. Airbus Helicopters is targeting output of 15-20 civil H175s annually “within a couple of years”, he says, although he declines to detail the type’s current backlog.

However, he notes the “challenge” of achieving that rate given the pressures on the supply chain amid an industry-wide ramp-up as the aerospace industry rebounds post-Covid. Should the H175 finally be produced in the higher quantities Fagot suggests it would represent a significant turnaround for the 7.8t helicopter. To date, just 52 examples are in service, overwhelmingly dominated by the almost 75% of the fleet working in the oil and gas sector.

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