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Contract extension ensures support for major fleet
Renewal of a support agreement means repair, light and major overhaul, testing and modification of dynamic components will continue to be available to Air Methods' fleet of more than 120 AS350 and EC130 helicopters.

US operator Air Methods has signed a three-year agreement with approved Airbus Helicopters repair centre StandardAero for the continued support of its fleet of AS350s and EC130s. All services will be completed at StandardAero's Airframe Center of Excellence in Vancouver, Canada.

“We have received 100 per cent on-time delivery since the beginning of this contract, with all cost targets and efficiency targets being met. I'm not sure we could ask for more,” says Air Methods senior vice president of aviation operations Leo Morrissette. “StandardAero's customer support has been perfect. They are reactive when we come to them with a request, and proactive when they need something from us.”

StandardAero's dynamic component repair and overhaul capabilities for the AS350/EC130 family of helicopters encompass a wide range of key components including the bevel reduction gearbox, combining gearbox, epicyclic, main rotor and tail rotor hub, tail rotor drive shaft and gearbox (including Fenestron) and mast assemblies.

Vice president of sales, marketing and business development for commercial helicopter services Manny Atwal adds: “This contract renewal reinforces our strong commitment to Air Methods and we are honoured to once again be entrusted with supporting its fleet. We have been supporting operators in North America with our dynamic component repair expertise for many years, and with our expanded Airbus approval we anticipate even greater demand from global operators also looking to take advantage of our experience and benefit from our increased presence in Europe.”

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