Airbus delivered 332 helicopters last year and logged gross orders for 369 rotorcraft (310 net), combined with its support and services revenue, worth more than $7.61 billion. The company claimed 54 percent of the civil and parapublic market in terms of units for the year.
Orders included 130 and 91 for the H125 single and H145 twin, respectively. Military orders included 23 NH90s for Spain and 25 H225M heavy twins, mainly for the forces of Hungary and Indonesia. Also in 2019, the French armed forces announced the accelerated launch of the Joint Light Helicopter program, with deliveries of the Airbus H160M intermediate twin advanced to 2026.
Key support contracts inked last year were for the NH90 in service in the German Army, the Tiger; Cougar and Caracal contracts in France; and a five-year extension of the through-life support contract for the Australian Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) Tiger. On the civil side, 250 additional helicopters were covered by global HCare contracts.
“The increased contribution from support and services and key wins in the military sector in 2019 underlines the importance of our robust business model. The balance between our different revenue streams enables us to maintain our global leadership in a challenging civil and parapublic market,” said Airbus Helicopters CEO Bruno Even.