Airbus Helicopters opens new £55m Oxford HQ
Airbus Helicopters opened the doors to its new facility at Oxford Airport last Friday following a £55 million investment.
Among guests at the grand opening was the Prince of Wales, who dropped in for a private visit to see one of two H135 helicopters due for delivery to London Air Ambulance.
Initially confirmed in 2022 but delayed by Covid, the 125,000 sq ft headquarters can accommodate 32 helicopters from the company’s production plants in France and Germany, for both civil and military deployments.
It’s set to house 250 members of staff, who previously occupied a mishmash of offices and buildings at the airport.
Airbus says the move has also helped reduce carbon emissions by 50 per cent thanks to new energy-efficient lighting and heating systems, as the company commits to use a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blend as part of all its Oxford-based flight operations.
As well as hangar space, the new HQ comes equipped with a range of training facilities for pilots and a workshop for engineers – complete with stripped-down parts from scrapped Airbus helicopters.
“We have more space with better equipment and we look forward to higher productivity as a result,” said Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters.
“Outside, we have eight landing pads able to accept all models of Airbus helicopters – right up to the largest.”
Among the new innovations Airbus was keen to show off was the Flexrotor, a tactical unmanned aircraft system (UAS) with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities – a model of which lives in the new reception area.
With a maximum take-off weight of 25kg, the craft is designed for land- and sea-based military operations and can withstand extreme conditions from desert heat to arctic cold.
