Mumbai: The European aviation major Airbus has entered into a pact with UTair for providing various support services like fleet maintenance, spares supply and operations training to the private helicopter operator.

The five-year contract signed with UTair India Privater Limited will cover its H125 helicopter fleet, a release said on Monday. UTair India, which is a subsidiary of UTair Aviation of Russia, has three H125 choppers in its fleet.

"Airbus Helicopters is proud of its long-standing collaboration with UTair. We now have one-third of the single engine fleet in India covered under the programme. Our aim in the medium term is to have most of the Indian fleet covered by the HCare Smart programme," said Xavier Hay, president, Helicopters, Airbus in India.

The programme offers comprehensive services that provide maximum helicopter availability and also ensure safety and reliability, he said.

"Airbus has been our enduring partner in India and we are proud to take this relationship forward with the signing of the HCare Smart contract. With an aim to improve the customer experience and meet the growing demand for helicopter services in India, we chose this programme that provides an unparallelled servicing experience," UTair CEO Anshul Bhatt said.

"The HCare Smart contract with UTair India covers both scheduled and unscheduled events providing all necessary support to the operator to carry out its operations safely, efficiently and cost-effectively," Airbus Helicopters said in the release.

The 24X7 support services under the HCare programme include material management, helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and upgrades, technical support, training and flight operations and connected services.

The programme helps the operators in reducing their operating cost and improve the availability of the helicopter, the release said.