Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopter has signed a support-by-the-hour contract with Safran Helicopter Engines for the powerplants on its fleet of AS350 B4 helicopters. This SBH contract covers in-service support and MRO for 25 Arriel 2B1 engines.

Papillon is the largest helicopter operator for discovery flights over the Grand Canyon, and this year it will celebrate its 60th anniversary. The signing of this contract follows an initial SBH contract signed in 2018 for the support of the Arriel 2D engines powering Papillon's H130 helicopters.

The contract will be managed by Safran Helicopter Engines USA, in Grand Prairie, Texas, which monitors and supports 400 helicopter operators in the United States, for a total fleet of 3,200 engines.

Thierry Derrien, Safran Helicopter Engines USA CEO, says: “We are particularly delighted that Papillon has decided to continue its partnership with Safran Helicopter Engines and its SBH support contract. This partnership, which began in 2018, has demonstrated the relevance of our support offer for the missions carried out by Papillon.”

Lon Halvorson, Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopter executive vice president, adds: “Safran and Papillon have been working towards this agreement for many years. Finally, the stars aligned! Now our entire Safran-powered Airbus fleet is covered by the Safran SBH programme, bringing financial stability to our engine overhaul expense. We look forward to our continued Safran support.”

SBH is Safran Helicopter Engines' maintenance-by-the-hour service. It provides visibility on engine operating costs and smooths financial flows, while making scheduled and unscheduled maintenance operations more flexible. SBH is integrated into a range of high value-added digital services such as Health Monitoring, Expert Link and Online SBH. Today, half of Safran Helicopter Engines' engine flight hours are covered by the SBH service.