Lessors Buoy Airbus H225 Orderbook

DALLAS—Airbus has secured additional orders for its H225 heavy helicopter as the platform enjoys a renaissance with government and military customers.

Lessor GD Helicopter Finance (GDHF) ordered five new-build H225s on March 12, the second day of the Verticon rotorcraft industry gathering here.

According to GDHF, the aircraft likely will be used for offshore transport and search-and-rescue missions, particularly in Latin America, Canada and West Africa.

The order means that Airbus already has secured sales for 17 H225s this year, including 12 military H225Ms for Iraq’s Army Aviation, publicly available sales figures suggest.

Airbus recorded a bumper year for H225 sales in 2024, with 58 aircraft ordered, including 38 destined for Germany’s federal police air support service announced last summer.

“This endorsement from GDHF further confirms the H225’s success in the civil and parapublic market as the most viable investment for energy investors,” said Regis Magnac, Airbus’s vice president for energy, leasing and global accounts.

Airbus also has announced that the H225 has been introduced for offshore oil-and-gas operations out of Namibia with Malaysian operator Westair helicopters.

Three Italian-registered H225s will operate from Lüderitz in support of an exploration campaign off the Namibian coast with TotalEnergies.

Airbus has been making significant investments in the H225 in recent years to tempt operators to bring the type back into offshore service.

The rotorcraft had all but disappeared from inventories of the major Western offshore operators after the April 2016 fatal crash of a CHC Helikopter Service-operated aircraft at Turoy, Norway, killed all 13 passengers and crew. Just a handful have continued to be used offshore in China and Vietnam. Westair’s use of the platform in Namibia opens a new offshore market for the aircraft.