Austria's ÖAMTC Air Rescue has signed a contract to purchase five H135 helicopters. Delivery of the first aircraft is scheduled for early 2022.

“Our demanding missions require the most modern helicopters available for enhancing our capability for critical missions, including during the night,” explains Reinhard Kraxner, CEO. “We have been operating the H135 for more than 20 years, and we look forward to benefiting from the advantages that the Helionix version brings. The reduced pilot workload combined with the four-axis autopilot will be a valuable asset onboard for our crews that rescue patients, often in challenging environments.”

Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters, adds: “We thank ÖAMTC Air Rescue for its continued trust in us and particularly in the H135, which continues to demonstrate that it is the reference in air medical rescue all over the world.”

ÖAMTC Air Rescue operates 28 H135 helicopters from 17 permanent bases and four additional bases during the winter in Austria. Last year, the operator performed more than 20,000 missions, at an average 52 per day.

The H135 combines a wide, unobstructed cabin with strong performance, range and payload capacity, along with low sound levels. The sliding side doors and rear clamshell doors enable fast loading/unloading of patients, with additional safety during ground operations provided by the shrouded Fenestron tail rotor.

As well as the four-axis autopilot, Helionix offers a cockpit layout that helps to increase situational awareness. Designed with three large electronic displays on the H135, the cockpit is NVG compatible and includes a First Limit Indicator which highlights appropriate engine instrument data for the pilot in one indicator.

To date, more than 1,400 helicopters of the H135 family have been delivered around the globe reaching over 5.6 million flight hours.