Safran Helicopter Engines has announced improvements to its SBH (Support-By-the-Hour) service range. Created to provide a comprehensive 'pay as you fly' service, SBH solutions now cover the full scope of customer profiles from SBH5Star for civil operators of up to five aircraft, SBHClassic for fleets of more than six aircraft to SBHM for military air arms.

SBH is a maintenance-by-the-hour service that has been continuously updated and now covers 40 per cent of its customers' turbines' flying hours. VP sales, marketing and customer satisfaction Frederic Bugeon says: “Over the past year 100 customers subscribed to one of our SBH contracts. With these offers we are tailoring our service to each customer mission and fleet so as to keep their levels of satisfaction as high as possible.”

SBH contracts make engine operating costs predictable, eliminate cash peaks, allow flexibility for scheduled and unscheduled MRO coverage and offer a wide variety of technical expertise options. Among these, Health Monitoring reduces unscheduled events by recommending predictive maintenance actions, and Expert Link allows direct video contact with a Safran expert.

Each SBH brings added value. SBH5Star offers simple turnkey packages, SBHClassic allows full flexibility for on-demand coverage and SBHM brings enhanced technical support with greater proximity.

SBH is part of EngineLife Services, Safran's range of solutions for helicopter engines.