DRF Luftrettung celebrates silver anniversary with Airbus

DRF Luftrettung has celebrated 25 years of partnership with Airbus. The operator has over 50 Airbus vehicles spread out over its 31 bases in both Germany and Austria.

The two companies initially signed the Part By The Hour contract a quarter of a century ago, with the promise that Airbus would be able to ensure the short-term supply of spare parts.

“At first, it was a full maintenance contract,” remembered Wolfgang Stein, former Technical Manager at the DRF Luftrettung’s Rheinmünster site. “However, as DRF Luftrettung continued to evolve and became a maintenance operation itself, Airbus adapted its support. This was how a partnership of trust developed over the years.”

Krystian Pracz, chairman of DRF Luftrettung, acknowledged that the company could have its own spare parts warehouse, with the size of its fleet; in order to be able to deliver the best service possible, ‘we prefer to rely on reliable and fast delivery by the manufacturer’.

“Last year, we placed more than 2,000 orders with Airbus. The total number of parts delivered to us under the PBH contract has been over 38,000,” said Pracz. “The HCare Smart Parts By The Hour contract also ensures our flexibility and operational readiness.”

DRF Luftrettung gains spare parts for the BK117, EC135, H135, EC145 and H145 type helicopters that are part of their fleet.

“This is one of the most successful maintenance contracts that we have with customers today. It helps us to get the fleet into the air and to ensure that the customer is ready for missions. This kind of contract has been able to develop further, thanks in part to the experience we gained through our co-operation with DRF Luftrettung,” said Thomas Hein, Airbus Helicopters’ Sales Manager for Western Europe.