Ruag Aviation’s facility in Sion, Switzerland, has been named one of the first helicopter services providers in Europe to earn manufacturer MRO approval for the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X. Its Sion location will also host the Bell 505 during its European launch tour.

The Ruag team has attended the first Bell 505 technical courses at the Bell Helicopter Training Academy in Texas, which qualifies its workers to not only perform maintenance on the light helicopter but also to reassemble them. Bell 505s are shipped to Europe partially disassembled, separated into airframe, tail boom, main rotor blades, and transmission.

“The reassembled helicopters require testing and the certificate of release to service. Our trained specialists in Sion ensure a reliable and prompt reassembly,” said Ruag head of commercial helicopter services Claudio Zeiter. Subsequent to training at the Bell Helicopter Training Academy, the Ruag helicopter services center earned the approval ratings for the Bell 505 under its EASA Part 145 certificate.

Ruag’s aircraft services include airframe MRO, component and subsystems MRO, engineering, system upgrades, complete cockpit and avionics reconfigurations, painting, fleet management, logistics management, and support and consulting.