40,000 Flight Hour Mark Reached by Helidax

A HELIDAX EC120B Colibri helicopter.

(Photo: Eurocopter)

September 26, 2012 defpro.com

Paris | Helidax, a subsidiary of DCI and INAER, announces that it has exceeded 40,000 flight hours on EC120 Colibri aircraft, in their Calliope configuration, after 2 years of operation.

Helidax is the first public-private partnership (PPP) launched by the French Ministry of Defense in 2008. This partnership concerns the supply of helicopter flight hours, for 22 years, to the Army's light aviation school (EA-ALAT) in Dax.

32 of the 36 Helidax aircraft are available to the trainees at the same time, every morning. In 2011, 100% of the school's requests were met. This remarkable availability level results from a partnership spirit driving the school and Helidax as well as the skills with which Helidax has endowed itself.

«Hélidax has reached a new objective by performing 40,000 flight hours in more than two years», declares Jean-Louis Rotrubin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DCI and Helidax. « We fulfil the expectations of the EALAT school for the training of pilots from the French Armed Forces. We think that the success of Helidax can be an example for other national outsourcing ventures and also for future military or civilian foreign markets.»