Airbus Corporate Helicopters (ACH, Booth Z43, Static AD_5) has outlined some of the work it and its parent company are conducting in the fields of sustainability and environmental considerations for the future. Many of these new technologies have been, or are being, tested on the Airbus Helicopters flying laboratory, an H130 configured for trials of systems such as modified controls applicable to urban air mobility vehicles, image detection for obstacle recognition and low-altitude navigation, advanced health and usage monitoring systems, and rotor strike warning. The Flight Lab is also testing hybrid power functions with a 100-kW electric motor connected to the main gearbox, and noise-reducing technologies.
The latter is one area where Airbus is investing heavily in making its helicopters good neighbors. Technologies such as new-generation tail fenestrons, reduced rotor speed, optimized stator and driveshaft fairings, and low tip-speed smart RPM laws are being incorporated, with hybridized propulsion also under study as a means to reduce noise.
Airbus already offers the quietest range of helicopters, ranging from 73 dBA in a 150-meter flyover with the H135 rising to just 81 dBA for the H175. These figures compare favorably with figures for road traffic, which range from 69 dBA for a regular car to 84 dBA for a truck.
In the area of sustainability, Airbus is proceeding along several avenues. Firstly, all of the company’s helicopters are certified to run on 50 percent SAF. In terms of development for the current range the company is improving aerodynamics and reducing weight, which could yield between 10 and 15 percent reductions in CO2 emissions. Continued advances in turbine technology and next-generation thermodynamic cycles could realise between 15 and 25 percent reductions, with an “eco-mode” operating cycle gaining another 15 percent.
The adoption of hybridization could also reduce emissions by 10 percent. Development of future platforms is proceeding along the lines of fully electric air vehicles, and also the development of hydrogen propulsion systems.
In terms of sales, the future is looking bright. Last year was a good one for ACH sales, the company sold 103 helicopters representing 65 percent of the turbine market. While overall corporate helicopter numbers are down from pre-Covid years, ACH’s sales mark a major increase in market share. Breakdown by type shows that the ACH130 leads the field with 38 orders, followed by the ACH125 with 30. The ACH135 accounts for nine and the ACH145 for 13. Deliveries of the latter are now of the latest five-bladed version, which began deliveries in the year.
Rounding out the figures are 11 ACH160s and two of the large ACH175. The regular H160 has now been certified by EASA, JCAB (Japan), and ANAC (Brazil), with FAA, GACA (Saudi Arabia), and TCCA (Canada) expected before the end of the year. The company also received a supplemental type certificate for the ACH160 Exclusive model. One of the major sales successes has been the ACH130 Aston Martin Edition, of which 14 orders have been booked. Six have been delivered to date, with single examples now with customers in Canada, Europe, Latin America, and the Philippines, and with two delivered in New Zealand.
ACH reports that its business in Russia previously accounted for around 10 percent, but since the imposition of sanctions the company has now placed helicopters that were on order elsewhere.