After a Handful of Years in Service, Rega Replaces their 2018 H145s With Brand-New 2022 H145s

Rega, the Swiss Air-Rescue Service, has ordered 9 new Airbus H145s to replace its lightly used 4-bladed versions. 

Rega's older H145s entered service with the outfit beginning in 2018, when 6 were purchased as part of a fleet rejuvenation. Their replacement with a newer, updated version of the helicopter is intended to increase mission capability, said Rega CEO Ernst Kohler. "The H145 has fully proven itself in our operations since entering into service in 2018. We look forward to operating the five-bladed version on our HEMS bases in Switzerland. The helicopters will allow us to further boost our mission capabilities and safety of our operations," said Kohler.

The improvement isn't just in the rotors. The newer H145 sports an inertial navigation system provided by Thales, allowing for constant navigation even if GPS signal is lost. The increased accuracy allows for higher RNP standards, enabling journeys even in hard IFR - the exact kinds of conditions that so often require a rescue for lost patients. The hoisting system in the H145 has also been revised, being streamlined and quicker to use than past iterations. 

Rega's 13 HEMS stations saw 14,440 missions last year, carrying hundreds of patients across their fleet. The choice to replace fairly young helicopters with an almost exact new production equivalent speaks highly of their confidence in the Airbus line, especially since Rega has almost exclusively used them for the past 2 decades.

“We are very grateful to open another chapter in the relationship between our two organizations with this order for our five-bladed H145,” says Bruno Even, CEO of the rotary wing of the conglomerate, Airbus Helicopters. “We are always looking at ways to evolve our helicopters by taking into account the feedback of those who operate them each and every day.”

FMI: www.airbus.com