Category: Helicopters

The Swiss Air Force took delivery of the last of its 20 Eurocopter EC635 helicopters on December 17 at RUAG Aerospace’s Alpnach facility where all but four of the aircraft were assembled. The helicopters were ordered in April 2006 and will replace the Allouette III in Swiss service, and will be employed on light transport

The UK Ministry of Defence has ordered 22 CH-47 Chinooks for the RAF as it seeks to bolster its rotary wing capability. The new helicopters will allow an increase in capability in extreme conditions such as in Afghanistan, however the first 10 aircraft are not due to be delivered until 2013 at the earliest. Analysts

Eurocopter’s 16-seat medium-lift EC175 made its ‘official’ first flight on December 17 from Eurocopter’s Marignane, France, facility. However, the December 17 flight was in fact the type’s sixth, with the actual first flight occurring nearly two weeks earlier on December 4. During the December 17 flight EC175 ‘prototype 1’ F-WWPB performed as part of a rehearsed handling display of 

CHC has appointed the ANZ Bank to ‘test the market’ for interested buyers of its Australian EMS and SAR operations while at the same time bidding for a £5bn (A$8.9bn) search and rescue contract for the UK Ministry of Defence/Maritime and Coastguard Agency. “We are conducting a strategic review in Australia with a view of improving