Safran Helicopter Engines has announced improvements to its SBH (Support-By-the-Hour) service offering. SBH “pay as you fly” solutions now include: SBH5Star for civil operators of up to five aircraft, SBHClassic for fleets of six-plus aircraft and SBHM for military air arms.

The announcement was made at Helitech International 2018 in Amsterdam.

SBH is Safran Helicopter Engines maintenance-by-the-hour service, now covering 40% of its customer turbines’ flying hours. Frederic Bugeon, Safran Helicopter Engines VP Sales, Marketing and Customer Satisfaction, says the service is tailored to each customer mission and fleet “to maintain their levels of satisfaction as high as possible.”

SBH contracts aim to render engine operating costs predictable, eliminate cash peaks, allow flexibility for scheduled and unscheduled MRO coverage and offer a wide variety of technical expertise options. These include Health Monitoring, to reduce unscheduled events through recommending predictive maintenance actions, and Expert Link, offering direct video contact with a Safran expert.

SBH is part of EngineLife Services, Safran’s range of solutions for helicopter engines.