Gloria Aviation Takes Delivery of First Light Civil
Helicopter from Airbus and KAI
(11/10/22)
Airbus Helicopters and Korea Aerospace
Industries (KAI) have delivered the first Light Civil Helicopter
(LCH) to a local operator, Gloria Aviation, following
certification in September.
Entering service in an emergency medical services
configuration in December, the helicopter will be
deployed to support critical life-saving missions in Jeju.
This key milestone came on the back of a
successful industrial partnership which started in 2015 when
Airbus and KAI 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 deployed for public
service missions such as search and rescue, utility, law
enforcement and fire fighting.
The LAH prototype completed its maiden flight in
July 2019, with the aircraft expected to be qualified in the coming weeks, paving the way for serial
production of the helicopter, which Airbus and KAI will jointly
embark on by the end of 2022, for the Republic of Korea Army.
“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 of
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.”
Building on the successful completion of the LAH
development, Airbus and KAI are preparing new joint helicopter development programmes, leveraging Airbus’
technical know-how in the field of helicopter drive systems and
flight control systems, while tapping into KAI’s established local industrialisation expertise in the country.
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
5-tonne class helicopters that have been developed to meet Korea’s
requirements for local deployment in both civil and military
sectors.
The enduring partnership between the two parties
has also seen the delivery of over 250 kits to KAI to-date, with
additional orders for future deliveries.
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