THC confirms the intention to further expand the presence of the AW139 fleet adding six helicopters plus 20 options within the next 18 months
Once delivered, these latest aircraft will bring the THC’s AW139 fleet to 49 helicopters
Bestselling type in its category with nearly 1300 units sold, more than 290 customers in over 80 nations worldwide for the widest range of applications and over 170 AW139s sold to operators in the Middle East to date
THC (The Helicopter Company) will further expand its fleet of Leonardo AW139 intermediate twin engine helicopters to reinforce search and rescue (SAR), Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Corporate transport in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. At Heli-Expo 2023 (7-9 March) in Atlanta, Georgia, the Company announced its willingness to engage negotiations to procure additional six units to the existing fleet plus 20 options.
By the time all these latest AW139s are delivered, THC will have a total fleet of 49 AW139s carrying out a range of missions including emergency medical service, search and rescue and corporate transport in the country.
Gian Piero Cutillo, MD Leonardo Helicopters, said “We’re pleased with the level of confidence shown by a leading operator like THC in our technology and mission capabilities by this latest announcement of fleet expansion plan. The AW139 is supporting their service capability growth programme for key missions, including SAR, EMS and Corporate transport and we’re proud to play our role for the communities they will serve.”
The world’s most important helicopter programme since its certification in 2004 and the bestselling type in its category, the AW139 has logged orders for nearly 1300 units from more than 290 customers in over 80 countries to date. The fleet of more than 1130 units in service has logged in excess of 3.6 million flight hours to date. The type has proven extremely successful in the Middle East with over 170 units sold across the region for the widest scope of missions including corporate transport, emergency medical service, search and rescue, law enforcement, offshore transport, government duties. The AW139 delivers outstanding capabilities, technology and safety to meet stringent requirements from operators for tasks in harsh conditions to maximize effectiveness. The type features state-of-the-art avionics with advanced navigation and collision avoidance systems to enhance situational awareness and reduce pilots’ workload, unmatched speed, power margins and overall performance, the widest cabin in its category featuring high modularity for rapid reconfiguration, a unique 60+ min run-dry capable main gear box for enhanced reliability and safety and up to 1000 certified kits.
About THC The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) established THC as part of its strategy to activate new sectors that meet the growing demands for commercial helicopters in Saudi Arabia.THC also supports the realization of Vision 2030 and generates long-term commercial returns. THC is the Kingdom’s first and only commercial helicopter operator and has been operating since mid-2019. For more information, please visit: www.thehelicoptercompany.com.sa
Saudi Arabian operator The Helicopter Company (THC) has signed blockbuster deals with Airbus and Leonardo for at least 43 aircraft, with options for a further 20, as it seeks to quickly build a comprehensive rotary-wing transport and air medical industry in the Kingdom.
VERTICAL MAG ARTICLE BY OLIVER JOHNSON | MARCH 8, 2022 [direct link to the online article at the end of the page]
The orders, announced on the first day of HAI Heli-Expo 2022, in Dallas, Texas, include 20 Airbus H145s and six H160s, with options for a further 10 H145s and four H160s; and 16 Leonardo AW139s and an AW109 Trekker, with options for another six AW139s.
All of the H145s and 10 of the AW139s are destined for the ambitious and unprecedented project of building a comprehensive nationwide helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) sector from scratch within the space of three years.
The HEMS program — to be known as Saudi Air Ambulance — is being developed together with Saudi Red Crescent, and will see 23 bases used (requiring 20 to be established). This will allow Saudi Air Ambulance to cover 90 percent of the population, according to Arnaud Martinez, THC’s chief executive officer.
“We’ll be starting with 12/7 operations in the daytime conducting inter-hospital transfers, then moving up to primary mission, and then to nighttime [with] NVGs [night vision goggles]” said Martinez. “That requires a dedicated focus in terms of training equipment, platform, SOPs [standard operating procedures] and crew resourcing, but on the medical side, we are not just a service provider, we are partner with the Red Crescent, which brings great depth of capability to the program.”
The two types were the clear choices for launching the service, said Martinez. “When we did the full study on what was the scope of this: ‘What’s the mission? What’s the best platform? What’s the most economic scale?’ We always came back to these two platforms,” he said.
A.J. Baker, THC’s chief commercial officer, said the H145 was chosen as it had excelled in the EMS role around the world, while the AW139 was a “proven platform” with THC.
“The AW139 is very reliable, [and] they’ve got that little bit extra range that we’re looking for, as some of the bases that we’re going to have are pretty remote,” he said.
The first AW139s will enter service in May and the first H145 is set to be delivered in July, with the rest of the fleet arriving at regular intervals over the next two years. The completions are being handled by the OEMs, using Air Ambulance Technology interiors.
At Heli-Expo, THC also announced that it has purchased a 51-percent stake in global helicopter distributor Rotortrade. Having worked together on an earlier acquisition, Martinez said Rotortrade was “a great fit” for THC’s operations. In addition to being a successful business, Rotortrade provides THC with a new capability, offering resale options if needed — and it is also handling the full 43-aircraft acquisition and entry into service for THC. This will allow the operator to focus on its existing fleet, which will be growing at a rate of two aircraft a month.
“We have 17 aircraft in day-to-day operations,” said Martinez. “I couldn’t have my technical and operations team focusing on a two-aircraft-a-month ramp up. It was a clear choice to outsource that part of the program.”
Within 24 months, THC will also receive the world’s first H145 full flight simulator (FFS) and an AW139 phase 8 FFS. Both will be provided by the airframe OEMs.
To support the growing fleet, a whole ecosystem will also need to ultimately be created in Saudi Arabia — training centers; maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) centers; completions centers, and support centers.
The creation of the EMS bases — requiring the construction of everything from helipads to hangars — will be similarly rapid. Five EMS bases will be completed this year, eight in 2023, and seven in 2024.
From the ground up
THC — the first national commercial helicopter operator in Saudi Arabia — is no stranger to unprecedented ramp-ups. Backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, THC was only established in 2018, with the aim of contributing to Saudi Vision 2030 — the Kingdom’s plan to diversify its economy and develop public service sectors.
The company’s first helicopter arrived at the end of 2019, and in just over two years the fleet grew to 17 aircraft (10 Airbus H125s, one H130, and six AW139s) and 150 employees. This is projected to swell to about 800 over the next two-and-a-half years, while THC will also add a small fixed-wing fleet.
THC’s operations cover the spectrum, from oil-and-gas to tourism, aerial work, search-and-rescue, medevac and VVIP transportation. “We said instead of focusing on one sector, the needs of the Kingdom are everywhere, so we must be everywhere,” said Martinez.
Aerial filming projects have quickly raised THC’s profile — and shown its capacity to perform challenging work. The company has been providing the aerial support for the famous Dakar Rally for the last three years, covered the first Saudi Arabian Formula One Grand Prix last year, and has been working on National Geographic documentaries and a Hollywood movie filmed in the country.
Enabling this is a core group of hugely experienced personnel who have been tasked with building the company and infrastructure, while building up the local expertise. The latter, known as “Saudization” is a national requirement within the Kingdom.
“People think that the main challenge is the fleet onboarding, but the main challenge is the people,” said Martinez. “You have a double challenge to ramp up and to maintain our planned Saudization rate.”
Pilots and maintenance engineers are sourced from around the world, and have the option of either moving to Saudi Arabia, or going there on their working rotation.
“In the meantime, we have invested in a cadet program and that will be a two-phased approach,” said Martinez. “[Saudi Arabia] is a fixed-wing world, so the first wave are [local] fixed-wing pilots that we convert to rotary within a 10-month program. And the second phase of the cadet program is ab initio — and that is a two-year program.”
A major source of work for the company is the support of three “Giga” projects under construction in the Kingdom: The Red Sea Development Company,NEOM, and the Royal Commission for Al-Ula. All are massive development programs to help build the Saudi Arabia of the future.
“Just a client like NEOM is the size of Belgium, but with all kinds of topography — you have the mountains, you have the Red Sea, you have the desert . . . so you need all kinds of operations [to service it]: search-and-rescue, EMS, [and] VVIP tourism,” said Martinez.
Deliveries of the H160s will begin in October. These are destined for VVIP operations, supporting The Red Sea program, where they will take guests from the region’s airports out to resorts.
Baker said the type’s reduced environmental footprint — Airbus claims 15 percent reduced fuel burn compared to similar sized aircraft — low noise signature, and new technology helped guide its selection.
The remaining six AW139s from the firm order will also be used for corporate transport, with the options for further aircraft providing flexibility as THC decides where best to use them.
Other sectors in Saudi Arabia will soon require a similar ramp-up. Martinez predicts that once mature, the NEOM and Red Sea projects will require about 50 helicopters alone to support them.
Airbus and The Helicopter Company (THC) have signed an agreement in order to continue expanding helicopter activities as well as to introduce urban air mobility in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
This comes as an additional step toward the co-creation of an Urban Air Mobility ecosystem in the Kingdom.
The signing of this agreement is a testimony to the strong partnership between Airbus and THC, as the company already operates 10 H125s, recently added 20 five-bladed H145s (with an option for an additional ten aircraft) and six ACH160 helicopters (with an option for an additional four) to its fleet.
The agreement foresees the decarbonisation of flight operations for Airbus’ products in THC’s fleet. This includes the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels for conventional helicopters, as well as the introduction of urban air mobility (UAM) services in the country. The agreed cooperation between the parties and the aviation regulatory authorities of the kingdom will enable the safe application of these solutions to a variety of mission segments, such as Emergency Medical Services, Eco tourism or Private and Business Aviation.
Captain Arnaud Martinez, CEO of THC, said: “This is a significant move toward the introduction and efficient operations of cleaner helicopters and advanced technologies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We are pleased to be a part of this unique opportunity to contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions in the urban transportation market together with Airbus.”
“We are looking forward to working closely with THC to further develop our strong commitment to the decarbonisation of our customers’ missions”, said Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters. “This agreement with one of our major partners is an important step towards pioneering sustainable air transportation services around the world”.
The Helicopter Company, established by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is the first and only helicopter services provider licensed to operate commercial flights in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Since 2014, Airbus has been exploring how electric propulsion can help drive the development of new kinds of aerial vehicles. In September 2021, the Company unveiled its fully electric eVTOL prototype, CityAirbus NextGen. Airbus is developing a UAM solution with eVTOLs not only to offer a new mobility service in urban areas and beyond but also as an important step in its quest to reduce emissions in aviation all over its product range.
The Helicopter Company (THC), which is fully owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, today announced that it has signed a purchase agreement with Airbus Helicopters to purchase 10 H125 helicopters.
The deal comes as part of THC’s commitment to further expand its fleet and introduce new services that fulfill market demand and support the development of the Kingdom’s wider aviation sector. Considered a multi-task aircraft, the Airbus H125 can carry up to six passengers and be easily reconfigured to suit varying requirements. THC will utilize the new additions to its fleet to roll out new services related to scenic tourism and aerial work such as filming, banner towing, and surveying. Commenting on the purchase agreement, Capt. Arnaud Martinez, CEO of THC said: “By signing this agreement, THC has taken a massive step in expanding its fleet and implementing its ambitious operational plan. We are proud to be contributing to the advancement of Saudi Arabia’s tourism and aviation industries through our innovative air transport services that guarantee passengers a one-of-a-kind experience to relish the beauty of the Kingdom from above. I would like to thank our partners at Airbus Helicopters who have ensured we have reached an agreement that matches our requirements, and we look forward to furthering our collaboration in the near future. I would also like to extend our thanks to PIF for their enduring support since our founding as we work together to advance Saudi Arabia’s aviation industry.” “This order marks the beginning of a new partnership with The Helicopter Company and we welcome them as a new Airbus Helicopters customer,” said Ben Bridge, Executive Vice President of Global Business at Airbus Helicopters. “The H125 is the perfect helicopter for developing commercial operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as it is a powerful and truly versatile aircraft particularly suited to hot and high environments,” he added. PIF established THC as part of its strategy to activate new sectors in Saudi Arabia that support the realization of Vision 2030 and generate long-term commercial returns. The Kingdom’s first local commercial helicopter operator, THC has been offering private flights since mid-2019 and is now expanding its services with the addition of the H125 to its fleet. This new agreement will contribute to driving the development of Saudi Arabia’s nascent and increasingly dynamic tourism and aviation industries and support the integration of each sector’s respective value chains.
Thanks to Luigi PISANO / Aviaphotos for these images of the third Leonardo AW139 delivered to The Helicopter Company of Saudi Arabia and registered HZ-HC5 … at the beginning of the ferry flight towards her new home. Milan Malpensa, February 2020.
