Milestone Aviation orders another 14 EC225 helicopters

Milestone Aviation Group has announced an order for 14 additional Eurocopter EC225 twin-engine helicopters, which will join the 16 EC225s ordered last year, along with the company’s initial EC175 booking, covering five of these next-generation aircraft.

This new order for the two Eurocopter helicopter types brings Milestone’s EC225 total order book value to more than €675 million (US $891 million) at list prices, while the list price valuation of its EC175 acquisition is approximately €70 million (US $92 million).

Milestone chairman and co-founder Richard Santulli and Eurocopter president and CEO Lutz Bertling announced the EC225 and EC175 contract at Heli-Expo 2013.

“This order further develops our partnership with Milestone and demonstrates the confidence our  longstanding partner places in Eurocopter’s Super Puma family and our new EC175,” Bertling said. “It underscores the EC225’s operational performance and value delivered with demanding customers such as Milestone, while making an important endorsement for the EC175.”

“The EC225 has a long-standing reputation for safety and reliability in the most demanding operating conditions,” commented Milestone’s Santulli. “Despite the current challenges the aircraft is facing, we are confident that Eurocopter and the EC225 will overcome them. This helicopter is a fantastic asset that will be a mainstay of the offshore oil and gas and search and rescue markets for decades to come.”

Santulli added: “With the EC175, our customers will benefit from the high-performance, range and payload capabilities of this exciting new aircraft.”