Airbus Corporate Helicopters' ACH160 is making its U.S. debut this week at NBAA-BACE. The delivery of the first ACH160 intermediate twin in the U.S. is expected in the first quarter of next year and its crew is in training. The helicopter is certified across six jurisdictions, including the U.S., EASA, Japan, and Brazil. FAA certification was received in June.
Five ACH160s are waiting to be delivered to North American customers, and Airbus plans to install a H160 simulator at its training academy in Grand Prairie, Texas, in 2025.
The ACH160 is part of a growing market offering for private business aviation helicopters worldwide. According to Airbus, some 6,000 helicopters populate that market segment, 1,900 of which are operating in North America. Four hundred of those were manufactured by Airbus. The private business aviation market accounts for 200 new helicopters annually, and Airbus claims one-third of that.
Fifty percent of the market is light helicopters with five seats or fewer and the remainder is larger helicopters. Airbus claims 67 percent of the overall light helicopter private business aviation market and 69 percent of that market in North America. According to Frederic Lemos, head of Airbus Corporate Helicopters, this is the most resilient part of the helicopter market and rebounded “quite strongly” from pandemic pressures in 2021 and 2022.
Airbus Corporate Helicopters delivered 83 aircraft and had 108 net bookings in 2022 worth $790 million, topping 104 in 2021. Strong sellers included the ACH130 single and ACH145 light twin.
The company grew its share of the private business aviation market from 26 percent to 44 percent between 2017 and 2022. In North America, Airbus Corporate Helicopters secured 28 private business aviation orders in 2022, growing its market share to 56 percent from 45 percent in 2021.
Those orders were comprised of 10 ACH125 and six ACH130 singles, and twins including one ACH135, seven ACH145s, and four ACH160s. Fully 26 percent of those bookings were from customers new to Airbus. It delivered 18 ACH models to North America in 2022.
Business jet customers are fueling some of this new demand, according to Treg Manning, Airbus Helicopters North America v-p of sales and marketing. “We’re seeing more business jet customers who see the helicopter truly as a time-saving machine.”