2016-2020

27 January: The H160’s second prototype takes off from Marignane, France, kicking off a busy 2016 for Airbus’ medium-sized helicopter as it pursues its flight test program with two prototypes.

20 May: Airbus Helicopters in the UK is selected by Ascent as the Aircraft Service Provider for the UK's Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS). The contract, worth £500 million over 17 years, will see Airbus Helicopters deliver aircraft and an integrated support solution over the course of 18 months, ready to start training in April 2018. This will involve the manufacture of aircraft in addition to developing the support infrastructure and training initial crews and maintenance personnel.

13 June: A Chinese consortium composed of China Aviation Supplies Holding Company (CAS), Qingdao United General Aviation Industrial development Company (Qingdao United) and CITIC Offshore Helicopter Co. Ltd (COHC) orders 100 H135 light-twin helicopters, becoming China's first customer to form an industrial partnership to launch a H135 final assembly line (FAL) in Qingdao, Shandong province. This is an important step forward, fulfilling the commitment of purchasing 100 H135s signed in a Letter of Intent (LOI) last year.

30 June: Airbus Helicopters delivers the first VIP version of the H175, the company's new medium class twin-engine helicopter, which entered service in 2014 for offshore transportation.

9 August: The Kuwait Ministry of Defense orders 30 H225M Caracal helicopters, as well as an associated support and services package.

14 September: Spanish Army takes delivery of first NH90s, with the Directorate General of Armament and Equipment (DGAM) completing transfer of the first two NH90 tactical transport helicopters from the Airbus Helicopters plant in Albacete to the Spanish Army.

28 September: The Mexican Navy receives the first of 10 AS565 MBe Panther helicopters it purchased in 2024, becoming the first customer in the world to receive the new version of this multi-role, medium-class military rotorcraft. The Navy will receive three other units before the end of the year, and the remaining six by early 2018.

3 March: The H160 is selected as the basis for France’s Joint Helicopter replacement programme (Helicoptères Interarmées Légers – HIL). 

19 June: Airbus Helicopters begins autonomous flight trials of a VSR700 Optionally Piloted Vehicle (OPV) demonstrator, paving the way for a first flight of the actual VSR700 prototype in 2018.

31 August: The H145M performs its first flight with a complete HForce weapons system in Donauwörth, Germany. With this modular weapons system designed by Airbus, the H145M can be equipped with all types of guided and ballistic armament, including missiles, laser guided rockets, guns and machine guns.

4 September: The Norwegian air ambulance operator Norsk Luftambulanse AS (NOLAS) is the first civil customer to receive an H135 equipped with Airbus’ Helionix avionics system, which provides greater mission flexibility and operational safety.

13 October: The third H160 prototype (PT3) performed its maiden flight. With its cabin interior configuration similar to that of a serial aircraft, the PT3 prototype will contribute to the H160’s certification activities and flight testing. 

24 November: The second prototype of the NH90 Sea Lion – commissioned by Germany’s Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support – lifts off from the Airbus facility in Donauwörth site for its maiden flight.

19 December: The CityAirbus programme reaches another milestone: the completion and power-on for the "iron bird" ground test facility in Taufkirchen, Germany. City Airbus is multicopter vehicle demonstrator that focuses on advancing remotely piloted electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) flight.

29 December: The Naval Group and Airbus Helicopters consortium is awarded a contract for technology development in the field of rotary-wing drones by the French DGA (Direction Générale de l'Armement). This contract covers de-risking studies ahead of construction of a future VSR700 programme tactical helicopter drone demonstrator for use aboard warships.

8 February:  Airbus’ Skyways unmanned aerial vehicle – which was designed for autonomous parcel deliveries – makes its first flight demonstration, validating the drone’s automatic loading and unloading capabilities.

1 March: Babcock becomes the global launch customer for Airbus’ H160 after signing a five-year framework agreement to purchase a fleet of the medium-class helicopters. The H160s will be used for emergency medical services (EMS) and other critical services missions – starting in Europe and deployed progressively across Babcock’s bases worldwide.

1 April: Airbus appoints Bruno Even, 49, as Chief Executive Officer of Airbus Helicopters. He reports to Airbus CEO Tom Enders, and joins the company’s Executive Committee.

12 April: Airbus celebrates the 50^th anniversary of one of the company’s most recognizable innovations for helicopters: the Fenestron shrouded tail rotor. Initially developed to provide additional safeguards for personnel working around the rotorcraft when on the ground – and to protect the tail rotor in forward flight, as well as in complicated operational environments – the concept of shrouding the tail rotor also led to sound reduction, resulting from Airbus research and optimisation.

18 June: The Hong Kong-based Government Flying Service (GFS) receives three H175s in the public services configuration, becoming the world’s first operator of this new variant – which enlarges the helicopter’s mission capacity to search and rescue (SAR) operations, emergency medical services, law enforcement and firefighting, as well as land and maritime border control operations.

24 July: The LCH (Light Civil Helicopter) prototype’s maiden flight – conducted in Marignane, France – marks a major milestone in the three years of close cooperation between Airbus and KAI (Korean Aerospace Industries) in developing this rotorcraft version.

25 July: The final series production German Tiger attack helicopter is delivered. This completes the series production of Tiger support helicopters at Airbus’ Donauwörth, Germany facility, which began in 1999.

20 December: The demonstrator for Airbus Helicopters’ VSR700 light military tactical unmanned aerial system performs a fully unmanned autonomous flight at the Istres air base in southern France. During the 30-minute flight, it successfully executes a variety of flight patterns before landing in an autonomous mode.

4 March: Airbus Helicopters unveils a new version of its best-selling H145 light twin-engine helicopter. Exhibited for the first time at the Heli-Expo 2019 show in Atlanta, Georgia USA, this latest upgrade brings an innovative new five-bladed rotor to the multi-mission H145, increasing the helicopter’s useful load by 150 kg. 

5 March: Airbus Helicopters launches a new analytics service that supports operational safety by analysing aircraft data post-flight to identify risks before they lead to incidents. The HFDM (Flight Analyser helicopter flight data monitoring) evaluates the data generated by multiple on-board sources to automatically detect situations that could have been safer or potentially could have led to an incident or accident.

6 March: Airbus announces that CHC Helicopter’s newest H175 will become the initial Airbus helicopter to be delivered with digital logcards. With digital content stored in a secured cloud, the digital logcard replaces outdated paper records. Airbus Helicopters is the first helicopter manufacturer on the market to transform paper logcards into easy-to-use digital data.

17 April: Airbus Helicopters expands its industrial footprint and partnership with China through the opening of an H135 final assembly line in Qingdao. This is the first helicopter final assembly line built by a foreign manufacturer in China, as well as the first such assembly site for the H135 outside of Europe.

19 June: A Letter of Intent (LoI) is signed by Airbus Helicopters and Safran Helicopter Engines to prepare the future of cleaner, quieter and more efficient vertical flight. This formalises their willingness to jointly demonstrate future technologies that will significantly contribute to the reduction of CO₂ emissions and sound levels for future vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) platforms.

1 July: 80 years of pioneering industrial excellence is observed by Airbus Helicopters, linked to the 1939 startup of activity at Marignane in southern France. Today, Marignane is home to the business’ headquarters, along with production lines for civil and military helicopters; design office; programme teams; maintenance, overhaul and repair activities; training and customer centres; development and testing facilities.

12 July: Airbus Helicopters strengthens its Italian footprint with the acquisition of long-time distributor and 50-year partner Aersud Elicotteri, located near the city of Verona.

6 September: Airbus Helicopters delivered its 1,000th Super Puma helicopter: a twin-engine multi-role H215 version assembled in Marignane, France, and provided to the German Federal Police (Bundespolizei) to support the German Havarie Command, which manages maritime emergencies off the coast of Germany.

25 September: Airbus Helicopters announces that it reached new heights in the Andes after the latest H145 version set its skids on Argentina’s Aconcagua – the Southern Hemisphere’s highest mountain, topping out at a height of 6,962 metres (22,840 feet). It is the first time a twin-engine helicopter landed at this altitude, confirming the performance and the extensive flight envelope of the new H145.

26 September: Airbus Helicopters details plans to provide one of the first new ACH145 versions – with a five-blade main rotor and increased maximum take-off weight – as the on-board helicopter for the REV Ocean research and expedition vessel (the world’s largest superyacht). The ACH145, which can operate from either of the 600-ft.-long (183 metre) yacht’s two helidecks, will play a key role in passenger transport and re-supply, as well as supporting the REV Ocean’s primary scientific mission.

2 October: Airbus Helicopters and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) sign a joint Memorandum of Cooperation to unite their respective experiences and know-how in bringing the next generation of VTOL platforms to life, along with the necessary regulatory framework to support them. The areas of cooperation include high speed flight, the certification of new piloting assistance systems, the thermal/electrical hybridization of electric/hybrid-electric vertical takeoff & landing (eVTOL) rotorcraft, and condition-based maintenance.

24 October: The first NH90 Sea Lion naval multi-role helicopter for the German Navy was delivered by Airbus Helicopters. A total of 18 Sea Lions have been ordered by Germany to take on a wide range of roles, including search and rescue (SAR), maritime reconnaissance, special forces, as well as personnel and material transportation missions. In addition to its land-based use, the Sea Lion will operate from Type 702 (Berlin class) combat support ships.

12 November: The prototype of Airbus Helicopters’ VSR700 unmanned aerial system performed its first flight. Derived from Hélicoptères Guimbal’s Cabri G2, the VSR700 is an unmanned aerial system in the 500-1,000 kg, maximum take-off weight range, capable of carrying multiple full-sized naval sensors for extended periods – operating on existing ships and with a low logistical footprint.

3 December: Airbus Helicopters and Europe’s OCCAR (Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation) sign a tri-lateral Global Support Contract aimed at boosting the availability rate of Tiger military helicopters in service with the French, German, and Spanish armies. Benefitting from this long-term support agreement, Tiger readiness and supportability will be secured for the next decade and beyond.

31 July: Airbus announced that the company’s CityAirbus demonstrator performed its first fully automatic flight, from take-off through stabilisation in flight, and landing at Donauwörth, Germany. It clears the way for this demonstrator of an all-electric, four-seat, multicopter vehicle to be transferred to Manching in Germany for forward flight trials.