Air Zermatt of Switzerland has placed an order for Marenco Swisshelicopters' next generation single-engine turbine helicopter, the SKYe SH09. The company is active in mountainous regions and believes that the aircraft is well-suited to its requirements.

“The constantly increasing demands with regards to perfor-mance and environment, plus a need for operational flexibility, mean that we were looking for a fresh concept in a helicopter,” says CEO Gerold Biner. “It was important to us that Marenco Swisshelicopter enabled us to influence the helicopter's design, drawing on our 45 years of experience in aerial work and air rescue.”

Air Zermatt was founded in 1968 with the aim of evacuating injured people in the popular alpine resort of Zermatt. In 1971 the company performed the first direct evacuation from the Eiger's north face using a rescue hoist, and in 2010 it evacuated three mountaineers from the Annapurna mountain range in Nepal at an altitude of 7,000 m. From 1976 until 1979 the fleet performed over 6,000 flights to an altitude of up to 3,820 m in order to build the upper station of the Klein-Matterhorn cable car.