Airbus H145 against the H135, Bell 429 and AW169

The H145 takes up to nine passengers where the Airbus H135 and the Bell 429 take seven. That is the main difference the machine carries inside the light class, and it costs money: a pre-owned H145 starts at $5.5 million while the median on the Bell 429 runs around $6.4 million, to my information. Here is where the four nearest types part company on confirmed figures, and the tasks in which the difference shows.

The four machines by the catalogue figures

Prices are market reference points as of August 2026, to my information. The cost of a particular aircraft is calculated from its records, the time remaining on its components and its equipment.

Full specifications are on the H145 model page. The neighbours in this comparison: H135, Bell 429, AW169.

The cabin: nine seats in the light class

The cabin is the reason the H145 reaches a short list at all. Nine passenger seats in a class where seven remains the standard close tasks that otherwise move up into the medium class with a different budget.

The AW169 takes ten, and its price of entry starts at $6.9 million on the pre-owned market against $5.5 million for the H145, to my information. The gap of $1.4 million is payment for one extra row and for a longer leg. The median on the type runs around $8.5 million: the spread inside the AW169 is set by the layout, from utility to VIP.

Loading runs through the rear clamshell doors and the sliding side doors. A stretcher, a medical module, cargo within the gauge go in from the tail with no rearrangement of the cabin. The Bell 429 solves the same task with its rear double doors; the airframe was designed around them.

The five-blade rotor: what the D3 version brought

The H145 D3 version (type designation BK117 D-3) was certified by EASA in June 2020. A five-blade bearingless main rotor replaced the four-blade one: useful load grew by 150 kg, maximum takeoff weight rose to 3,800 kg, the vibration level came down.

A hundred and fifty kilograms on a light machine is a passenger with luggage, or the fuel margin for the leg home. In the mountains and in the heat, where power falls away, it is exactly that margin which decides whether the task goes today or moves.

In listings the difference between the D-2 and the D-3 is carried by the single word "H145". The generation is checked against the records: the type designation BK117 D-2 or D-3, the number of main rotor blades, the maximum takeoff weight — 3,700 kg on the D-2 and 3,800 kg on the D-3. The pre-owned market on the type runs in a corridor of $5.5–7.0 million with an average around $6.0 million; a new civil machine comes to about $9.7 million, to my information.

The fenestron against an open tail rotor

The H145 and the H135 carry a fenestron — a tail rotor inside a ducted channel. There are two practical consequences.

The first is work at sites with people around. An enclosed rotor removes a whole class of ground accidents: a landing site inside a city, on the grounds of a plant, beside a hospital block is served more calmly.

The second is noise. The duct changes the spectrum, and by subjective perception the machine is quieter on a flyover. For a site in residential development that is an argument in the approval process.

The Bell 429 and the AW169 come with an open tail rotor and take their own back on speed: 280 and 272 km/h against 240 on the H145. On a leg of 500 kilometres that is fifteen to twenty minutes of difference in the air.

The production run and the service behind it

By 2024 almost 1,700 machines had been built across the H145 family; the type goes back to the MBB/Kawasaki BK 117. The H135 had been delivered in more than 1,400 examples to 60 countries by September 2020. The Bell 429 reached 500 machines by July 2024 and is operated in more than 42 countries. The AW169 was certified by EASA in July 2015, series deliveries have run since 2016, and the count of machines built and ordered stands in the several hundreds.

The size of the production run reads to an owner as the availability of components, the number of service centres, the number of crews qualified on the type and the predictability of the exit from the asset. On that measure the H145 and the H135 come first.

Another support under the H145 is the missions its main fleet stands on: air ambulance, police, offshore wind power, mountain rescue. A fleet like that keeps the supply of spares and the service in working order, and a corporate owner draws on infrastructure built for somebody else's tasks.

The EC145: the same cabin at a lower price of entry

The predecessor EC145 (BK117 C-2) was built until 2015 and gives the same nine seats with a range of 680 km. The pre-owned market holds it in a corridor of $1.4–6.0 million with a median around $3.5 million, to my information, on eight offerings as of August 2026.

The difference from the H145 is the Helionix avionics, the fenestron, the Arriel 2E engines with digital control and the time remaining on components. A machine at $3.5 million arrives with a first-year budget that a fresh H145 does not carry. This is calculated in one table: the price of entry plus the work due against the price of entry with no work due.

Who each machine suits

The H145 — nine seats, city sites, loading through the tail, regular tasks with people around the aircraft.

The H135 — the same procedures and the same fenestron at seven seats and a lower price of entry. Legs up to 600 kilometres, air ambulance and corporate tasks.

The Bell 429 — 280 km/h and 720 km of range at seven seats. Single-pilot IFR as standard, the WLG version with retractable gear.

The AW169 — ten seats and 820 kilometres. The upper boundary of the light class on money and on capability, a family shared with the AW139 by cabin and by crew training.

What to check on a particular machine

The generation from the records: BK117 C-2, D-2 or D-3, and the number of main rotor blades. Hours and cycles on the airframe and on each engine as separate figures. The time remaining to the next engine removal. The status of the hourly programme and the terms on which it passes to a new owner. The calendar checks completed and the next one due. The equipment for the task: hoist, floats, medical module, weather radar, kit for night flying.

The type certificate for the H145 in Russia is confirmed, to my information. For a machine on a foreign register, the recognition of the maintenance already carried out is checked separately in the target register.

Conclusion

The H145 is bought for nine seats, the fenestron and loading through the tail inside the light class. The Bell 429 answers with speed and range at seven seats, the H135 with the same logic for less money, the AW169 with ten seats and a leg of 820 kilometres at a price from $6.9 million.

Beyond that the particular aircraft decides: the rotor generation, the time remaining on components, the programmes and the equipment. The order of prices across the class is covered in the article on how much it costs to buy a helicopter; the structure of the flight hour is in the breakdown of helicopter flight hour cost.

The figures in this article are reference points across the types, to my information. The specifics are calculated from the documents of the particular aircraft.

Alexander Filimonov — business aviation: sourcing, purchase and entry into service of aircraft.

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