Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries. Its head office is located at Marseille Provence Airport in

Marignane Marignane (; oc, Marinhana) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. Geography It is a component of the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, and the largest suburb of the cit ...

, France, near Marseille. The main facilities of Airbus Helicopters are at its headquarters in Marignane, France, and in Donauwörth, Germany, with additional production plants in Brazil ( Helibras),

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, Spain, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States. The company was renamed from Eurocopter to Airbus Helicopters on 2 January 2014. In 2018, Airbus delivered 356 helicopters, a 54% share of the civil or parapublic market over five seats.

History

Airbus Helicopters was formed in 1992 as Eurocopter Group, through the merger of the helicopter divisions of

Aérospatiale Aérospatiale (), sometimes styled Aerospatiale, was a French state-owned aerospace manufacturer that built both civilian and military aircraft, rockets and satellites. It was originally known as Société nationale industrielle aérospatiale ( ...

and DASA. The company's heritage traces back to Blériot and

Lioré et Olivier Lioré-et-Olivier was a French manufacturer of aircraft of the 20th century, founded in 1912 by Fernand Lioré and Henri Olivier. History The ''Société de Constructions Aéronautiques d'hydravions Lioré-et-Olivier'' had three factories, loca ...

in France and to

Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in partic ...

and

Focke-Wulf Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG () was a German manufacturer of civil and military aircraft before and during World War II. Many of the company's successful fighter aircraft designs were slight modifications of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. It is one of the ...

in Germany. Airbus Helicopters and its predecessor companies have established a wide range of helicopter firsts, including the first production turboshaft-powered helicopter (the Aérospatiale Alouette II of 1955); the introduction of the Fenestron shrouded tail rotor (on the Gazelle of 1968); the first helicopter certified for full flight in icing conditions (the AS332 Super Puma, in 1984); the first production helicopter with a Fly-by-wire control system (the

NHIndustries NH90 The NHIndustries NH90 is a medium-sized, twin-engine, multi-role military helicopter. It was developed in response to NATO requirements for a battlefield helicopter which would also be capable of being operated in naval environments. The NH90 ...

, first flown in full FBW mode in 2003); the first helicopter to use a Fly-by-light primary control system (an EC135 testbed, first flown in 2003); and the first ever landing of a helicopter on Mount Everest (achieved by an AS350 B3 in 2005). As a consequence of the merger of Airbus Helicopters' former parents in 2000, the firm is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus. The creation of what was then called EADS in 2000 also incorporated CASA of Spain, which itself had a history of helicopter-related activities dating back to

Talleres Loring Talleres Loring (Loring Workshops) was a Spanish aeronautical company founded by engineer and entrepreneur Jorge Loring after moving to Madrid. History A predecessor company, Loring Pujol y Cia, had been founded in Barcelona by Jorge Loring ...

, including local assembly of the

Bo105 The Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Bo 105 is a light, twin-engine, multi-purpose helicopter developed by Bölkow of Ottobrunn, West Germany. It was the first light twin-engine helicopter in the world, and the first rotorcraft that could perform a ...

. Today, Airbus Helicopters has four main plants in Europe (

and La Courneuve in France, and Donauwörth and

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

in Germany), plus 32 subsidiaries and participants around the world, including those in Brisbane, Australia, Albacete, Spain and

Grand Prairie Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis counties of Texas, in the United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It had a population of 175,396 according to the 2010 census, making it th ...

, USA. Since approximately 2006, Eurocopter has been involved in the planning for the proposed pan-European Future Transport Helicopter project. As of 2014, more than 12,000 Airbus Helicopters were in service with over 3,000 customers in around 150 countries. Eurocopter sold 422 helicopters in 2013 and delivered 497 helicopters that year. In 2014, AH built a concrete cylinder for testing helicopters before first flight.

Historical emblems

Historical emblems of the company: File:Eurocopter logo (1992–2000).svg, 1992–2000 File:Eurocopter logo (2000–2010).svg, 2000–2010 File:Eurocopter company logo.svg, 2010–2014 File:Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter Group) logo.png, 2014–2017 File:Airbus Logo 2017.svg, alt=Airbus common logo since June 2017, 2017–present

Products

Some of the helicopters were renamed in 2015, resembling Airbus airplane naming. When the division changed its name from Eurocopter Group to Airbus Helicopters in 2014 the trade names of the products were changed (applied by 1 January 2016) to reflect this. Suffixes, as well as the differentiation for single or twin engines, were no longer to be used. Military versions were to be symbolized by the letter M. The only exceptions to this new branding were the AS365, the AS565, the Tiger and the NH90, which will keep their current names.

Projects

* X³ rotorcraft – hybrid helicopter with two forward propellers, which achieved a 255-knot speed milestone in level flight in June 2011. * Airbus Helicopters X6 – Two year concept study into the possible launch of an 11.5t helicopter to replace the H225. *

Airbus RACER The Airbus RACER (Rapid and Cost-Effective Rotorcraft) is an experimental high-speed compound helicopter developed by Airbus Helicopters from the Eurocopter X³. Revealed at the June 2017 Paris air show, final assembly will start in mid-2020 fo ...

, experimental high-speed compound helicopter developed from the X³, targeting a 2020 first flight. * Airbus CityAirbus, electrically powered VTOL aircraft demonstrator, intended for an air taxi role.

Gallery

File:Patrulla Aspa (9543712579).jpg, H120/

EC120 The Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) EC120 Colibri (" hummingbird") is a five-seat, single-engine, light utility helicopter. Jointly designed and developed by Eurocopter, China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation ( CATIC), ...

Colibri File:Eurocopter AS-350B-3 Ecureuil, Heli-Linth AN1174998.jpg, H125/ AS350 Écureuil
''H125M/ AS555 Fennec'' File:Eurocopter 130 SP-MTB 3 (modified).jpg, H130/ EC 130 File:YSP EC135P2 JA02YP Maishima 20081018-001 (cropped).jpg, H135/ EC135
''H135M/ EC635'' File:EC145 STAT Med (remix).jpg, H145/ EC145
H145M/EC645/

UH-72 The Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) UH-72 Lakota is a twin-engine helicopter with a single, four-bladed main rotor. The UH-72 is a militarized version of the Eurocopter EC145, built by American Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters, Inc.), a ...

File:04MAR - Formaiton Flight Nikon -8 (25576437476).jpg,

AS365 The Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) AS365 Dauphin (''Dolphin''), also formerly known as the Aérospatiale SA 365 Dauphin 2, is a medium-weight multipurpose twin-engine helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters. It was originally developed a ...

Dauphin
'' AS565 Panther/

HH-65 The Eurocopter MH-65 Dolphin is a twin-engined helicopter operated by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) for medevac-capable search and rescue (SAR) and armed Airborne Use of Force missions. It is a variant of the French-built Eurocopter AS3 ...

/ Z-9'' File:Eurocopter EC-155B-1 AN1222412.jpg, H155/ EC155 File:Airbus Helicopters H160 (cropped).jpg,

H160 The Airbus Helicopters H160 (formerly X4) is a medium utility helicopter being developed by Airbus Helicopters. Formally launched at Heli-Expo in Orlando, Florida on 3 March 2015, it is intended to replace the AS365 and EC155 models in the firm ...

File:Airbus H175 G-EMEC MG 6429 (29535221148).jpg, H175 File:Eurocopter EC-665 Tiger UHT, Germany - Army AN1547187.jpg, ''

EC-665 The Eurocopter Tiger is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter which first entered service in 2003. It is manufactured by Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter), which arose from the merger of Aérospatiale's and DASA's respective helic ...

Tiger'' File:AS332M1 Super Puma - RIAT 2014 (center).jpg, H215/

AS332 The Airbus Helicopters H215 (formerly Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma) is a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-size utility helicopter developed and initially produced by the French aerospace company Aérospatiale. It has been subsequently manufactu ...

Super Puma
''H215M/ AS532 Cougar'' File:78+29 German Army NHIndustries NH90 TTH ILA Berlin 2016 19.jpg, '' NH90'' File:EC-725 Caracal - RIAT 2009 (484151112) (center).jpg, H225/

EC225 The Airbus Helicopters H225 (previously Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma) is a long-range passenger transport helicopter developed by Eurocopter as the next generation of the civilian Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma, Super Puma family. It is a twin-engin ...

Super Puma
''H225M/ EC725 Caracal''

References

Note

External links

*
Airbus Corporate Helicopters

Helibras

Airbus Helicopters timeline at Helis.com
* {{Authority control Airframe manufacturers of Europe Multinational aircraft manufacturers Defence companies of Germany Military vehicle manufacturers Defence companies of France Helicopter manufacturers of Germany Helicopter manufacturers of France German companies established in 1992 French companies established in 1992