Swiss air-rescue service Rega orders nine five-bladed H145s

The Swiss Air-Rescue Service Rega has ordered nine five-bladed Airbus H145s to replace its current four-bladed versions. Rega’s new H145s will come equipped with a state-of-the-art navigation system that will enhance the mission capabilities and the safety of operations.

“We are very grateful to open another chapter in the relationship between our two organisations with this order for our five-bladed H145,” says Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters. “We are always looking at ways to evolve our helicopters by taking into account the feedback of those who operate them each and every day.”

“The H145 has fully proven itself in our operations since entering into service in 2018,” says Ernst Kohler, CEO of Rega. “We look forward to operating the five-bladed version on our HEMS bases in Switzerland. The helicopters will allow us to further boost our mission capabilities and safety of our operations.”

The new integrated navigation system will use new capabilities of the Flight Management System GTN750 Xi by Garmin. It will integrate and control a multi-sensor system that provides highly accurate and reliable navigation capacities. Even in the event of GPS signal loss, the helicopter will navigate safely thanks to Thales’ inertial navigation system. This solution will further boost the navigation performance in low IFR conditions and allows the helicopter to be certified as navigation procedure RNP-AR 0.1, which is the most accurate navigation procedure in the helicopter environment. The configuration also includes a new hoist by Vincorion that is being certified on the five-bladed H145.

Rega operates 13 HEMS stations in Switzerland. In 2021, the helicopter crews carried out 14,330 missions, including transporting 471 COVID patients. Rega’s current fleet includes seven H145s and one H125 used for pilot training.

The new version of Airbus’ best-selling H145 light twin-engine helicopter adds a new, innovative five-bladed rotor to the multi-mission aircraft, increasing the useful load of the helicopter by 150 kg. The simplicity of the new bearingless main rotor design also eases maintenance operations, further improving the benchmark serviceability and reliability of the H145, while improving ride comfort for both passengers and crew. The new H145 introduces on-board connectivity to customers and operators through the integration of the next step of the wireless Airborne Communication System (wACS), allowing seamless and secure transmission of data generated by the helicopter.

In total, there are more than 1,500 H145 family helicopters in service, logging a total of more than six million flight hours. Powered by two Safran Arriel 2E engines, the H145 is equipped with full authority digital engine control (FADEC) and the Helionix digital avionics suite. It includes a high performance 4-axis autopilot, increasing safety and reducing pilot workload. Its particularly low acoustic footprint makes the H145 the quietest helicopter in its class.