Airbus Helicopters has officially opened its new facility at Oxford Airport following a major £55 million ($73mil) investment. The 125,000 square ft. (11,700 square meter) headquarters has eight helipads and can house over 30 aircraft internally and the site is home to around 250 staff.
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 as part of all its Oxford based operations. Airbus presently provides all Police and two thirds of Air Ambulance helicopters operated across the UK.
Alongside completion and retrofit activities, the new site will also serve as an MRO facility for both civil and the military aircraft as well as offering advanced engineering and pilot training programs.
“It’s a vastly improved environment both inside for our technical workforce, and on the operation and product side. We have more space with better equipment and we look forward to higher productivity as a result,” explained Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus.