An Airbus H135 photographed at CANSEC in Ottawa, Canada, in 2021. (Janes/Patrick Allen)
Airbus announced that SkyAlyne, the company selected to train pilots for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), purchased 19 H135 helicopters on 4 November.
Final assembly of the helicopters is to be completed at an Airbus facility in Fort Erie, Ontario, according to Airbus. Deliveries are scheduled to begin before the third quarter of calendar year 2026.
The H135s are to be modified from standard configuration, according to Airbus, to entail “a number of Canadian-developed Supplemental Type Certificates, including modifications to the avionics suite and communications systems, as well as custom development in the cockpit,” the company said.
Airbus had not responded to questions at of the time of publication.
The H135s are to be based at Southport Airport, Manitoba, to provide advanced rotary-wing training for RCAF pilots under the Future Aircrew Training (FAcT) Program.
RCAF training is set to begin in 2029, in keeping with SkyAlyne's contract, and run through 2054. SkyAlyne was selected to provide most RCAF pilot training, including both basic and advanced rotary-wing training, in May 2024. The company is a tie-up between CAE and KF Aerospace; CAE currently operates the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) programme, training Canadian and international fighter pilots on BAE Hawks at Cold Lake, Alberta, and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, while KF Aerospace leads the Allied Wings consortium, which operates Contracted Flying Training and Support training at Southport Airport.
Several countries employ H135s as training helicopters, including Australia and the United Kingdom. The helicopter has racked up more than 400,000 hours of armed forces flight training, according to Airbus.
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