Avincis has signed a Letter of Intention (LoI) with McDermott Aviation for five McDermott 214ST medium-lift twin-turbine helicopters to expand its aerial firefighting and utility operations across Europe.
The helicopters will be deployed across Avincis’ operating regions based on operational requirements and seasonal wildfire demand. By August 31, 2026, Avincis had completed more than 12,600 firefighting flight hours and nearly 5,400 missions across Spain, Portugal and Italy, while dropping more than 225 million litres of water.
The 214ST offers up to 3,000 kg of useful load, a maximum external hook load of 3,582 kg, endurance of up to 4.1 hours and a cruise speed of 120 knots.
Powered by two CT7-2A engines, the helicopter has a large cabin and hot-and-high performance. It can be configured for water dropping, crew and equipment transport, and external-load operations from remote or confined locations.
“As demand for aerial firefighting and utility operations continues to grow, investing in versatile medium-lift aircraft is essential to ensuring we can support our customers wherever they need us most,” said John Boag, Group CEO of Avincis.
“The McDermott 214ST is a highly respected platform, and these aircraft will strengthen our ability to deploy resources across our operations in response to changing operational requirements and wildfire conditions. We look forward to continuing our relationship with McDermott Aviation as we invest in the future of aerial emergency services.”
“These five aircraft give Avincis another powerful option within our integrated fleet. The 214ST’s lift, endurance and hot-and-high performance will strengthen our rotary-wing response, while its utility capability will allow us to deploy the aircraft across a wider range of critical missions throughout the year.”
“We are not simply adding aircraft. We are giving our customers and the emergency services directing operations on the ground more options when conditions escalate.”
The agreement also builds on McDermott Aviation’s operational, engineering, and maintenance experience with the 214 series.
“We’ve believed in the capability of the 214ST for a long time. An agreement for five aircraft is a significant step forward for the program and reinforces the role we believe this aircraft can play in firefighting and utility operations globally,” said John McDermott, Founder and President of McDermott Aviation.
“We have spent decades operating, maintaining and engineering the 214 series in some of the toughest environments in the world. That experience gives us a very clear understanding of what the aircraft is capable of and what operators need from it”, McDermott added.
McDermott Aviation owns the Type Certificates for the Bell 214B and 214ST series and is preparing to begin production of its modified Utility 214ST model. The programme builds on more than four decades of operational, engineering and maintenance experience with the 214 series.
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He later highlighted, “As the Type Certificate holder for the 214ST, we are committed to the long-term future of the platform. We’re looking forward to continuing to work with Avincis and seeing these aircraft supporting critical operations across its network.”
The five aircraft will add medium-lift capacity to Avincis’ existing helicopter and amphibious firefighting fleet, while their utility configuration will allow them to support missions outside the wildfire season.
