The handover was made at the Marignane, France production facility of Eurocopter, and will be followed by the helicopter’s ferry flight to DanCopter’s Esbjerg, Denmark operating base with personnel aboard from DanCopter, Maersk and Blueway.

Attendees at the EC225 handover ceremony included DanCopter CEO Jens Anders Jensen; Dag Saetre, the Technical Director of DanCopter’s parent company, Blueway A/S; Ken Tapping, Technical Director for Milestone Aviation Group, the leasing company that provided the financing for the EC225 to Blueway/DanCopter; and Jesper Ladefoged, the Head of Operations at Maersk – DanCopter’s customer for the off-shore airlift services.

“This latest helicopter will provide additional resources as the EC225 returns to service on North Sea transportation missions,” DanCopter’s Jensen said. “Safe operations are the top priority for us, and we have confidence in the EC225’s ability to resume its role as a workhorse on our off-shore oil and gas missions.”

The EC225 enables DanCopter to carry 19 passengers on heavy-lift crew change missions to platforms located 140-155 miles from the coast. Its large cabin and the ability to operate in the North Sea environment – with winds, waves and icing conditions – make the helicopter well suited for such challenging service.

“We thank DanCopter, Blueway, Milestone and Maersk for renewing their trust in the EC225, and Eurocopter is fully committed to supporting them in carrying out these very demanding offshore missions,” said Olivier Lambert Eurocopter senior vice president sales and customer relations.

The EC225 is an 11-ton-class rotorcraft in Eurocopter’s Super Puma family. With more than 300,000 flight hours logged in service worldwide to date, it is deployed in civil, military and parapublic operations that range from offshore transportation and cargo airlift to search and rescue (SAR) duties.

In addition to DanCopter’s EC225s based at Esbjerg, the company operates Eurocopter EC155 B1 helicopters from England and the Netherlands.

About Eurocopter

Established in 1992, the Franco-German-Spanish Eurocopter Group is a division of EADS, a world leader in aerospace and defense-related services. The Eurocopter Group employs approximately 22,000 people. In 2012, Eurocopter confirmed its position as the world’s No. 1 helicopter manufacturer with a turnover of 6.3 billion Euros, orders for 469 new helicopters and a 44 percent market share in the civil and parapublic sectors. Overall, the Group’s helicopters account for 33 percent of the worldwide civil and parapublic fleet. Eurocopter’s strong international presence is ensured by its subsidiaries and participations in 21 countries. Eurocopter’s worldwide network of service centers, training facilities, distributors and certified agents supports more than 2,900 customers. There are currently more than 11,780 Eurocopter helicopters in service in 148 countries. Eurocopter offers the most comprehensive civil and military helicopter range in the world and is fully committed to safety as the most important aspect of its business.