In 2021, Airbus Helicopters logged 419 orders, showing solid signs of recovery from the 2020 market situation, which was heavily impacted by the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and saw just 289 orders.

The company says that the increase in orders for its H125 and H130 light helicopters reflects the recovery of the civil and parapublic market. It saw strong momentum from its home countries, with France ordering 40 H160s in both civil and military versions, eight H225Ms and two H145s, Spain ordering 36 H135s and Germany procuring eight H145s for the Bavarian police force. Deliveries increased from 300 in 2020 to 338 in 2021, contributing to Airbus Helicopters' preliminary 52 per cent share of the civil and parapublic market.

“2021 was a year of major commitments for Airbus Helicopters," says ceo Bruno Even. "We committed to developing new products and services that fulfil our customers' requirements, such as launching the development of an innovative H160M for the French armed forces' joint light helicopter programme and creating the new service package HCare Classics for customers that operate our legacy helicopters. We also delivered the first ever H160 to Japanese operator All Nippon Helicopter. It is our duty to innovate and to pioneer sustainable aerospace and to that end we have begun implementing the use of sustainable aviation fuel and pursued our urban air mobility journey with the unveiling of the CityAirbus NextGen.

"I'm proud of our teams that have worked hard to deliver all of these achievements. Their commitment to our Airbus values of teamwork, reliability and integrity will enable us to continue working on securing the supply chain and to deliver on our continuous improvements to ease the operations of our customers. I especially value the trust that our customers place in our people, our products and our services to help them perform their essential missions every day.”

The company ramped up its five-bladed H145 deliveries in 2021 as well as delivering the first five-bladed H145 retrofit to German helicopter emergency medical services operator DRF Luftrettung at the end of May. Other key deliveries saw the first H225M for Singapore in March, and the first NH90 TTH for Qatar which was delivered ahead of schedule.

Order highlights for 2021 consist of 93 H145s and 52 H160s, including 10 H160s for the Gendarmerie Nationale, the first law enforcement customer for the model. Airbus Helicopters also expanded its partnership with The Helicopter Company in Saudi Arabia, which added 20 H145s and six ACH160s to its fleet. The H225 saw 2021 kicking off to a good start with its long-standing customer, the Japan Coast Guard, ordering an additional two helicopters in March.

Airbus Helicopters' suite of HCare offerings continues to convince customers of its value add with new and returning customers such as Air Methods, which signed an additional contract in February to cover 80 EC135s. The company expanded its range in 2021 with HCare Classics, a custom-made set of services for its legacy fleet of approximately 2,000 in service H120, Dauphin, Puma and Gazelle helicopters. HDataPower is an example of Airbus Helicopters' ongoing commitment to digitalisation and harnessing the benefits (time savings, higher fleet availability and optimised costs) that it can proffer to customers with Helionix-equipped aircraft by leveraging data generated by helicopter systems.

2021 was an essential and exciting year for innovation and product improvement for the company. The H125 performance increase received both its EASA and FAA certification, enabling operators to take full advantage of the 10 per cent power increase provided by the Arriel 2D engines. The VSR700, Airbus' unmanned aerial system, began its flight envelope expansion ahead of sea trials later this year.

2021 was especially instrumental to the company's decarbonisation roadmap. The Flightlab helicopter started flight testing new technologies, including the engine back-up system, which not only aims to deliver safety improvements but is also a fundamental first step on the road to hybridisation. Airbus Helicopters also launched a SAF User Group dedicated to the rotary wing community in an effort to accelerate the deployment of biofuels, began using sustainable aviation fuel for its training and flight tests at it main sites in France and Germany, and ended the year by flying an H225 with one engine powered by 100 per cent SAF. One of the key highlights came in September at the Airbus Summit when Airbus Helicopters unveiled the CityAirbus NextGen, its new prototype designed to deliver zero emissions flight in urban environments. The fully electric vehicle for the urban air mobility market is just one of the reasons Airbus Helicopters is looking to recruit 500 people in 2022.