France-based high altitude sling work specialist Blugeon Hélicoptères has taken delivery of a light single engine H125 from Airbus, the 7,000th helicopter from the Ecureuil family,

This new H125 will join Blugeon’s existing fleet of five H125 helicopters located at three bases in the French Alps and a fourth one in the Pyrenees. Each of them flies an average of 600 hours a year performing passenger transport, powerline surveillance, film making, preventive avalanche maintenance, mountain rescue and large scale hoisting.

“Blugeon is proud to take delivery of this new H125, the sixth one in our fleet. I am especially proud of this shared milestone as this particular helicopter is the 7,000th Ecureuil manufactured by Airbus,” says CEO and founder Christian Blugeon. “I have been flying the H125 for more than 20 years and have accumulated a lot of experience with this helicopter, with which we have already flown almost 45,000 hours. It is a key element for our development strategy.”

Airbus head of the light helicopters programme Axel Aloccio adds: “Since the first Ecureuil took to the skies in 1974, this family of aircraft has forever changed the light helicopter market and the way aerial work is performed. Designed to be a simple, practical and competitive aircraft, the secret of its success lies in its excellent performance and its ability to adapt to operators’ needs. It is precisely thanks to the confidence of operators like Blugeon that we are celebrating the milestone of the 7,000th delivery.”

The Ecureuil is currently operated by 2,014 customers in 124 countries. It also has several altitude records to its credit. The most notable of these was reached on 14 May, 2005, when Didier Delsalle touched down on the summit of Mount Everest behind the controls of a serial H125, the only helicopter to have ever accomplished this feat.