Airbus Delivers 7,000th Ecureuil Helicopter

The 48-year-old brand made its landmark sale to French company Blugeon Hélicoptères.

Michael Wildes

Monday, July 11, 2022 at 03:00 PM ET

Verified

Blugeon's H125 doing aerial work over the French Alps [Courtesy: Airbus Helicopters]

Key Takeaways:

Airbus delivered its 7,000th Ecureuil helicopter, an H125, to Blugeon Hélicoptères, a company that extensively uses the model for demanding high-altitude operations.
First flown in 1974, the Ecureuil series has become a highly successful and adaptable light helicopter line, accumulating over 37 million flight hours across its civil (H125, H130) and military (H125M) variants.
The H125 model has undergone continuous development, including recent upgrades for increased power and payload capacity, and holds a record for the highest helicopter landing on Mount Everest.

See a mistake? Contact us.

The 7,000th Ecureuil helicopter delivered by Airbus—a single-engine H125—was put together at the Airbus Helicopter facility in Marignane, France, before joining the Blugeon Hélicoptères’ fleet, which already has five H125 helicopters operating throughout France. The company flies each of its helicopters an average of 600 hours yearly for high-altitude activities like mountain rescue, preventive avalanche maintenance, filmmaking, power-line surveillance, passenger transport, and large-scale hoisting.

Christian Blugeon, CEO and founder of Blugeon Hélicoptères, said in a statement that his company was proud to add the sixth aircraft to its operation, but even more so to share a special milestone with Airbus.