Horizon International Flight Academy has logged more than 1,000 flight hours on its Bell 505 fleet, mainly utilised to train military pilots. Horizon's training academy is in the UAE. “Crossing the 1,000-flight hour threshold in less than three months from its latest aircraft registration is a testament to Horizon and the Bell 505's ability to quickly meet mission requirements,” says Sameer A. Rehman, Bell Textron MD for Africa and the Middle East. “It's a privilege to work with the Horizon team to redefine flight training for the next generation of military and commercial pilots with the Bell 505's proven operational capabilities in desert environments.”

Horizon took delivery of its first aircraft in January and completed its 12th helicopter registration by mid-April. Since then all the Bell 505s are in operation and currently training academy students. Among them is Sheik Zayed bin Hamad bin Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, the first student to fly the Bell 505 for his CPL.

“We are proud to be operating Bell 505s in our training programme,” says Hareb Al Dhaheri, CEO of Horizon. “The integrated glass cockpit enables our pilots in training to experience modern controls on a single engine aircraft. We look forward to logging more flight hours and hitting new milestones in our B505s.”