Aramco Overseas Company, a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, is to take delivery of five H145 helicopters on lease during the coming year in support of its global petroleum and chemicals businesses.

The aircraft will be sourced from leasing company Milestone Aviation Group's order book with Airbus and will be in addition to the 24 medium aircraft Milestone currently has contracted on lease to Aramco.

"Aramco's trust in Milestone's ability to deliver certainty of execution, coupled with our financial and technical capabilities, is greatly appreciated by our team," says Milestone president and CEO Daniel Rosenthal. "We take pride in the fact that our long-term partnership approach to further assist Aramco with the introduction into service of its comprehensive medium and light-twin fleet renewal programme now places Aramco as one of Milestone's largest global customers."

Airbus Helicopters ceo Bruno Even adds: "We are pleased that Aramco has selected the H145 for its light-twin fleet renewal programme in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is a key and historic partner for Airbus and home to our subsidiary in the region. The H145's proven technologies, availability and cabin versatility are the perfect tools to meet Aramco's demanding requirements as a global leader in oil and gas."

Airbus says that, with its powerful Arriel engines and Helionix digital avionics suite, the H145 has the lowest maintenance costs in its class. More than 200 H145s have been delivered to date and have collectively achieved more than 100,000 flight hours since 2015.