South African Henley Air has signed a letter of intent for a SKYe SH09 helicopter. It is the first order for the type in Africa, and means that 60 orders have been placed for the SH09 worldwide.

Henley began operations in 1995 at Rand airport, Johannesburg, and in the early years the fleet was a single JetRanger. Ceo Andre Coetzee and his team currently provide clients with a range of single and multi-engine aircraft for passenger transport, commercial, utility and private charter, as well as helicopter training.

He comments: “We believe the aircraft will offer the perfect performance levels to tackle the extreme environments of the region and it will give us the ability to build new services, when considering the versatility of the aircraft and the large cabin it offers.”

The concept of the Marenco Swisshelicopter SKYe SH09 first emerged in 2007 and it had its first flight in 2014. It is a five to eight seat utility helicopter with a shrouded tail rotor, and a maximum cruise speed of 145 knots and a range of 432 nm. Its fuselage includes floor mounted windows between the pilots' seats, which allow for vertical visibility.

Coetzee concludes: “Having had the privilege to visit Marenco last year, it was clear that this is a revolutionary rather than evolutionary design concept. This helicopter addresses typical issues raised by operators from around the globe and is a truly multi-role platform. We would like to think that our first-to-market approach will encourage other local owners and operators to follow suit.”