Metro Aviation First with EMS STC for Airbus H160

Metro Aviation has become the first completion center to develop an emergency medical services (EMS) interior for the Airbus H160 helicopter. The company also signed a purchase agreement to buy 12 H140s, which it will offer for purchase and completion at its Shreveport, Louisiana headquarters.

Scheduled to be completed in first-quarter 2026, the H160 EMS supplemental type certificate (STC) will also be available as a kit for installation by qualified facilities and in other countries. Features of the STC include “intensive-care-capable stretcher systems, medical equipment interfaces, optimized patient/caregiver cabin layouts, and efficient loading access,” according to Metro,

The first two U.S. deliveries of the light-twin H140 are scheduled for 2029 and will go to Metro Aviation. Its large cabin is ideally suited for intensive-care stretchers and transport incubators, and patient loading is eased by the side sliding doors and rear-clamshell door, thanks to the T-shaped tailboom. Like the H160, the H140 will be equipped with a Fenestron shrouded tail rotor and the Airbus Helicopters Helionix avionics suite.