Horizon International Flight Academy will become the largest operator of Bell 505 trainer helicopters in the world.

Dubai United Arab Emirates - November 18, 2019:   Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, has announced the signature of a purchase agreement with Horizon International Flight Academy for 12 Bell 505 helicopters. Based at Al Ain International Airport Zone and purpose-built for flight training, Horizon International Flight Academy uses their Bell only fleet to provide unparalleled flight training to local and international students for the civilian and military sector.

Hareb Thani Al Dhaheri, chief executive officer, Horizon, stated, “By introducing the single-engine glass cockpits, the fleet will enable us to meet the latest technology needs of aspiring pilots and will prepare them to fly with modern Helicopters when they are back to their units.”

“It is an incredible privilege to work with the fantastic team at Horizon International Flight Academy” said Sameer Rehman, Bell managing director for Africa and the Middle East. “They have been a regional force in training helicopter pilots and their choice of the Bell 505 will further enhance their offering with new technology aircraft. It is an honor to play a part in their state-of-the-art training shaping the pilots of tomorrow on an all-Bell fleet of Bell 206s, Bell 407s, and Bell 429s.”

“The Bell 505’s unique capabilities and efficient operational cost lend it increasingly well to being an ideal trainer,” said Ian Darcy, senior vice president, Hawker-Pacific, Bell Independent Representative. “There has been a lot of interest in the Bell 505 as a training aircraft due to its capability, affordability, maintainability and safety features.”

With over 200 delivered worldwide, the aircraft is already demonstrating excellent performance with customers all over the world. The Bell 505 Jet Ranger X incorporates the familiarity of the Jet Ranger family with new advanced avionics technology.

The integrated glass cockpit enables pilots in training to experience modern controls on a single engine aircraft enabling them to transition more easily to flying advanced aircraft, such as the Bell 429 twin-engine helicopter. Its reliability, speed, performance and maneuverability are integrated with a flat floor and open cabin that is configurable for a wide variety of missions and payloads. 

Bell has been present in the UAE for decades and operates from its a Middle East head sales office located in Abu Dhabi.