American Eurocopter at the AMTC in Seattle

American Eurocopter has continued as leader in the US air medical services industry with a market share of 60% and more than 630 of its aircraft currently in air medical service across the country.

“Over the last ten years, the EC135 has accounted for over 80% of the light twin helicopters delivered to the US air medical industry,” said American Eurocopter president and CEO Marc Paganini. “With its cabin size, flexibility, performance and reliability, the EC135 has become the twin-engine helicopter of choice in the air medical services industry.”

Since January of 2012, 21 orders were placed for American Eurocopter aircraft to be utilized in the air medical industry including California Shock Trauma Air Rescue (CALSTAR) who agreed to purchase up to eight EC135 helicopters. CALSTAR will eventually become an all Eurocopter fleet operator.

“We performed a very detailed review of our mission profile and our requirements so that we could begin the process of upgrading and standardizing our fleet,” explained CALSTAR president and CEO Lynn Malmstrom. “Once we evaluated all the aircraft, the EC135 was the best suited for our current and future mission needs.”

American Eurocopter has also delivered 27 aircraft for air medical service this year, including an EC145 to the University of Utah’s AirMed Program in July–the program’s first Eurocopter aircraft.

“We were getting to the point where it wasn’t cost effective to operate our other helicopter, and we needed to make a change in order to provide our patients with the type of service they need and deserve,” explained Rob Stantus, AirMed program manager. “We evaluated several twin-engine aircraft during our selection process. The EC145 was the only one to meet all of our requirements: performance, cabin size, flexibilities, capabilities, and more. We are looking forward to adding this aircraft to our fleet.”