Norwegian Air Ambulance has ordered two more five-blade Airbus Helicopters H145. The twin-turbine helicopters will join the operator’s existing fleet of Airbus H135s and H145s. The Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation was the first operator in the world to take delivery of a five-blade H145 in 2020. It flies from 13 HEMS bases across the country.
“The five-blade H145 has proven to be the perfect helicopter for our HEMS operations,” said Norwegian Air Ambulance CEO Leif Olstad. “With the new helicopters we will continue to serve the people of Norway with state-of-the-art equipment to ensure the best service possible.”
Airbus’s latest model of the H145 adds a five-blade rotor, increasing the useful load of the helicopter by 330 pounds, and features a bearingless main rotor. It is powered by two Safran Arriel 2E engines, the Airbus Helionix digital avionics suite, and a four-axis autopilot. The more than 1,600 H145-family helicopters in service have collectively logged in excess of seven million flight hours. Airbus has provided 54 percent of the world’s 2,700 EMS helicopters currently in service.