Airbus Helicopters launches flight-test campaign of H175 in public services configuration

Airbus Helicopters has kicked-off the flight test campaign of the public services variant of the H175 medium twin-engine helicopter. An initial flight-test campaign was successfully concluded after 12 flights. This included a demonstration carried out last week with customer Hong Kong’s Government Flying Service (GFS), who became launch customer for this new variant in September 2015 with an order for seven units. Flight-test activity of the public services variant will resume in December, with two additional aircraft to support the certification process ahead of a planned entry into service in late 2017. One of the benefits of the public services variant is its inherent swing-role capabilities, enabling speedy and seamless re-configuration based on mission requirements. The wide range of missions that can be performed include SAR operations, emergency medical services, firefighting, law enforcement and land/maritime border security patrols.