HTM Helicopter Travel Munich has signed a letter of intent to acquire an EC145 T2, adding the enhanced version of Eurocopter's EC145 rotary wing aircraft to its fleet for the servicing of offshore wind farms.

As well as its increased power, space and new cockpit, the aircraft was chosen for its ability to support wind farm missions by carrying two service teams totalling six people. One team may be deployed and recovered by hoist, meaning that a single flight can service two wind parks.

"Performance counts in our business, and this helicopter provides what we need to meet operational demand," said ceo and owner Hans Ostler during the signing ceremony at Heli-Expo 2012. "Our activities are growing, and we look forward to introducing the EC145 T2 for new and ongoing offshore wind farm projects."

For HTM's use, the twin-engine helicopter will be qualified for single and dual pilot offshore operations, and equipped with systems that include an automatic flight control system, weather radar, moving map, traffic advisory system, external winch, cargo hook and emergency floats.

"Eurocopter understands the high demands made on a helicopter in wind farm servicing, which is one of the reasons why we evolved the EC145 T2 version," says Wolfgang Buchner, Eurocopter head of central Europe sales. "HTM will fully benefit from the EC145 T2's capabilities when the aircraft enters its inventory in 2014."

With more than 5,200 hoist cycles for offshore wind power plants undertaken since the beginning of 2009, HTM says it sets the standard for such missions in the German North Sea region. It also conducts vip transport, airborne filming, aerial work and training, with 14 helicopters from Eurocopter's product line in its fleet.