Life Flight Network has ordered five Airbus H135 helicopters for emergency medical transport in the northwestern United States, Airbus announced on October 26, 2026. The purchase adds to three H135s ordered in 2025, taking that combined order total to eight.
Where the helicopters are intended to serve
The manufacturer’s announcement identifies Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana as the communities the new twin-engine aircraft will support. It does not provide a delivery timetable, individual base assignments or an entry-into-service date for the five helicopters.
Those details matter when assessing local coverage: ordering aircraft is a fleet investment, rather than confirmation that a new emergency transport service is available today.
What Airbus and the operator say
Airbus describes the H135’s Helionix flight deck and four-axis autopilot as features intended to support pilots during demanding missions. The announcement does not quantify a reduction in response times or patient outcomes from this order.
Ben Clayton, Life Flight Network’s chief executive, framed the investment around serving communities separated by difficult terrain and long distances. Bart Reijnen, who heads Airbus Helicopters’ North America region, welcomed the operator’s additional order.
Existing services and the new order are different
Life Flight Network’s official operator profile describes a not-for-profit service using helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and ground ambulances across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Hawaiʻi. That broader service area should not be treated as a deployment list for these five H135s: the order release names the four mainland states.
For readers following regional aviation investment, the next concrete milestones are announced delivery dates, named operating locations and confirmed service entry. Until those are published, there is no basis in this release to promise a particular community an additional aircraft or faster transport.
Read more in our United States aviation coverage.
Archive/context photograph: a Life Flight helicopter at MultiCare Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, Washington, September 7, 2021. Photo: T85cr1ft19m1n via Wikimedia Commons, CC0. Resized and compressed to WebP, with a JPEG derivative for Instagram. The photograph does not show one of the newly ordered H135s.
