The H160, known for less maintenance is light-weight; more robust, corrosion and fatigue resistance and comes with easy digital troubleshooting tools to give maintenance technicians the information to maintain this aircraft to the highest standards, even far from the maintenance base.
15 January 2021: All Nippon Helicopter’s (ANH) H160 recently completed a successful 95-minute maiden flight at Japan’s Marseille Provence Airport paving its way for service-entry in Japanese electronic media market. The electronic news gathering market in Japan has a robust fleet of 87 helicopters with the likes of H125, AS365, H135 and H155 platforms. The H160 will replace ANH’s fleet of three decade old AS365 helicopter. Equipped with additional safety features from the Helionix’s accrued pilot assistance; the H160 brings added leverage to ANH.
Delighted with the successful inaugural flight of Japan’s very first H160 Jun Yanagawa, President of ANH commented on their fleet re-modelling plan. “Since the introduction of AS365 helicopter three decades ago, the requirement of electronic news gathering market are constantly evolving and has significantly improved. This state-of-the-art helicopter H160 is a timely welcome for our operations.”
The H160, known for less maintenance is light-weight; more robust, corrosion and fatigue resistance. It comes with easy digital troubleshooting tools to give maintenance technicians the information to maintain this aircraft to the highest standards, even far from the maintenance base. The main innovations include optimised equipment locations for easy accessibility, engine access through a firewall panel and easy removal of engine and main gearbox cowlings.
Additional features of the H160 include electric landing gear to allow more payload, easy access to various maintenance areas along with flexibility in the maintenance plan to match operators’ needs and constraints thanks to the MSG-3 (Maintenance Steering Group-3) inspection methodology.
The H160 received its EASA type certification in July 2020 with the certification from the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) expected in early 2021. The specialised equipment installation and customisation will be performed at Airbus Helicopters’ Kobe facility, before its entry into service.
Thanking All Nippon Helicopter’s and promising full support and smooth delivery, Guillaume Leprince, Managing Director of Airbus Helicopters said, “We are honoured to have ANH as our H160 launch customer in Japan, as they renew their fleet. This successful first flight is particularly meaningful during this unprecedented time for the industry. We thank our customer and the teams involved for devoting maximum efforts into this achievement.”
The H160 is cleaner, quieter than others in its class and allows customers to take a step towards reducing their environmental footprint. Besides this, with its light maintenance plan aligned between engine and aircraft, the H160 offers optimized operating costs and a new standard in availability.
