Daher announced the delivery of a Kodiak 100 turboprop utility aircraft to Heli-Béarn. This air work operator based at the airport of Pau-Pyrénées (Atlantic Pyrenees) thus becomes the first French customer of this aircraft.

Built in Sandpoint (Idaho, USA), the Kodiak is renowned for its robustness, high payload, short take-off and landing capabilities. Features appreciated for a wide variety of missions. The Kodiak 100 delivered to Heli-Béarn is specifically intended for the dropping of paratroopers.

In this configuration the Kodiak 100 has a sliding door and benches to take up to 15 paratroopers. Able to climb to 3,000 m (12,000 ft) in 9:30, it can provide an average of 4 rotations per hour.

“We thank Héli-Béarn and its President Jean-Luc Dartiailh, whose level of demand we know, for their confidence in our aircraft to develop their air work activities,” commented Nicolas Chabbert, Director of Daher’s Aircraft Division and General Manager of Kodiak Aircraft.

“Until now the Kodiak was a little-known aircraft outside of North America and Asia. With this first delivery of a Kodiak to a French customer we hope to change the situation.” He added.

“As an air work operator, we were interested in the Kodiak as soon as we learned that Daher had acquired it,” replied Jean-Luc Dartiailh, director of Heli-Béarn.

“We were able to test it in operational conditions and we were quickly convinced that it was the ideal aircraft, especially the drop of paratroopers. It is a modern, safe, easy-to-maintain and efficient device. With an operating cost 25% lower than that of the aircraft in service, it seems to us the ideal solution to take over the aging fleet of paratrooper centres.” he concluded.

Heli-Béarn, founded in 1996, is a company whose main activities are transport and air work by helicopters and aircraft, aircraft maintenance and various trainings related to aeronautics. It operates a fleet of about ten aircraft, mainly Airbus AS350 B2/B3, AS355, SA315B and a TBM 700.