The Light Civil Helicopter (LCH) delivered to a local operator, Gloria Aviation will enter service in an emergency medical services configuration in December 2022.
Airbus Helicopters and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) have announced the successful delivery of the first Light Civil Helicopter (LCH) to a local operator, Gloria Aviation. The delivery was completed after receiving the certification in September 2022. The Light Civil Helicopter (LCH) will enter service in an emergency medical services configuration in December 2022. The helicopter will be deployed to support critical life-saving missions in Jeju, South Korea.
The partnership between the two parties has also seen the delivery of over 250 kits to KAI to date, with additional orders for future deliveries. The LAH prototype completed its maiden flight in July 2019, with the aircraft to be qualified in the coming weeks. The successful qualification of the helicopter will pave the way for the serial production of the helicopter. The aircraft produced by Airbus and KAI will jointly embark by the end of 2022, for the Republic of Korea Army.
The delivery is a key milestone for the companies that came on the back of a successful industrial partnership that started in 2015 when the two jointly collaborated on the LCH and Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) development programmes. The LCH completed prototype flights at the end of 2019. Other than its first application for emergency medical services, the helicopter will also be capably deployed for public service missions such as search and rescue, utility, law enforcement, and firefighting.
“KAI has been a long-time partner to Airbus on several strategic helicopter development programmes. We are happy to celebrate this first LCH delivery which will, with the upcoming LAH qualification, kick-start a new chapter for our partnership as we enter the serial production phase,” said Bruno Even, CEO, Airbus Helicopters. “We are also pleased to take our partnership a step further to prepare for the development of new variants that do not just meet the operational requirements of the end-user, but one that would bring tremendous technical and economic benefits to the local aerospace industry for years to come,” he further added.
Airbus and KAI are preparing new joint development programmes building up on the successful completion of the LAH development. Airbus aims to leverage technical know-how in the field of helicopter drive systems and flight control systems with these helicopter programmes, meanwhile tapping into KAI’s established local industrialization expertise in the country.
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The two companies first started their long-standing industrial partnership in 2006 when both parties jointly worked on the Korean Utility Helicopter, followed by the LCH/LAH development programmes. The LCH/LAH are next-generation 5-tonne class helicopters that have been developed to meet Korea’s requirements for local deployment in both civil and military sectors.
