The National Police Air Service (NPAS) has awarded a five-year contract for airworthiness management, maintenance and parts to Airbus Helicopters UK Limited.

Covering the 19 Airbus helicopters in the NPAS fleet, the contract starts on Wednesday 1 October. The company will provide 17,100 hours of support every year – or 85,500 hours over the five year contract.

The EC 135 (one of the Airbus helicopters in the NPAS fleet) has a cruising speed of approximately 150mph. In the lifetime of the contract a EC 135 could have covered 12.8 million miles – that’s nearly 27 round trips to the moon.

Ollie Dismore, Flight Operations Director for NPAS, said:

“I am please to officially announce this partnership with Airbus Helicopters UK Limited.

“After keen competition for this contract we were delighted at the quality and value for money represented by the Airbus Helicopters bid.

“This fresh partnership will allow us to move forward together in delivering the highest levels of aircraft availability.,

“This single contract replaces the many and varied contracts individual forces had in place before the start of NPAS and means better value for money for the tax payer.

“This agreement maximises economies of scale.”