Rotortrade Services, an international helicopter distributor and exclusive global distributor of Leonardo’s pre-owned helicopters, announced on Oct. 30 that it has initiated return to service (RTS) activity on three Airbus H225 helicopters currently being maintained by Vector Aerospace.
Rotortrade was mandated earlier this year by a group of lenders to manage the re-possession, maintenance and sale of several H225 and S-76C++ helicopters from CHC following its bankruptcy filing.
After evaluating several maintenance providers, Rotortrade selected Vector Aerospace to ensure the H225s were properly stored according to the OEM’s maintenance manual and returned to service when need be.
Both companies have announced that three H225 helicopters – two full search-and-rescue (SAR) variants with, respectively, 20 total (factory) flight hours and 284 hours still under original OEM warranty, and one 2014 offshore variant – are being returned to service to become fully airworthy under EASA regulations and flight-ready to be operated in any region of the world.
The H225 market has seen some positive signs recently, and the time is right. This RTS activity will allow any operator requiring such aircraft to find a readily available solution. Airbus Helicopters and Safran Helicopter Engines have shown tremendous support throughout this process.
