Airbus Helicopters, Heligo sign HCare services contract for H145 fleet

Airbus on Friday said it has signed an HCare Initial contract, a comprehensive by-the-hour services deal, with Heligo Charter Private Limited for six Airbus H145 helicopters deployed for offshore and onshore operations in India.

A press release from the aircraft maker said under this five-year contract, Heligo will benefit from Airbus's HCare Initial programme, which will give the operator the freedom to replace scheduled and unscheduled components within 24 hours and pay a fixed rate per hour of helicopter flown.

This will help Heligo bring down its maintenance costs and do away with the need to keep a regular inventory, thereby providing it with enhanced fleet availability for streamlined operations, it said.

"We are proud to be the first operator to offer a fleet of Airbus Helicopters' 5-bladed H145 to ONGC for offshore operations in India. Once these helicopters are delivered this year, Heligo will have the largest H145 fleet in India serving both offshore and onshore missions, said Nayan Jagjivan, Chairman, Heligo Charters Private Limited.

"We congratulate the Heligo team for being awarded the recent offshore contract with the H145s. This HCare Initial by-the-hour contract that we have just signed with Heligo for their H145 fleet will ensure efficient operations for these helicopters and their maximum availability, Sunny Guglani, Head of Airbus Helicopters, Airbus India and South Asia said.

At Airbus, we believe in providing the best combination of support and services to our customers and we are proud of our long association with Heligo. This is Airbus Helicopters' largest By-the-Hour contract with an Indian operator, he further said.

The H145 is the latest member of the Airbus, twin-engine rotorcraft product range with designed-in mission capability and flexibility, especially in high and hot operating conditions.

HCare is Airbus Helicopters' comprehensive services offer, providing superior customer service support in five domains such as Material Management, Helicopter Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) and upgrades among others.

With this contract, Heligo's entire fleet of Airbus helicopters will benefit from the HCare Initial By-the-Hour programme, Airbus said.