Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many flying hours have been logged on (a) Merlin, (b) Wildcat, (c) Apache, (d) Gazelle, (e) Chinook, (f) Puma, (g) Lynx, (h) Bell 212 and (i) Defender aircraft under Joint Helicopter Command in 2017.
The number of flying hours by aircraft type under Joint Helicopter Command for financial years 2012-13 to date are shown below. The Joint Helicopter Command does not fly the Bell 212.
Annual flying hours are impacted by a number of factors including operational activity, number of platforms in service and training requirement.
Financial Year | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18(as at 31Oct) |
MERLIN | 6,890 | 5,520 | 4,160 | 3,240 | 3,250 | 1,820 |
WILDCAT | 650 | 1,250 | 2,160 | 3,120 | 4,190 | 2,730 |
APACHE | 16,660 | 15,340 | 11,090 | 7,980 | 8,130 | 5,310 |
GAZELLE | 3,980 | 4,010 | 4,000 | 4,020 | 3,810 | 2,310 |
CHINOOK | 14,810 | 13,940 | 11,900 | 10,520 | 11,450 | 6,820 |
PUMA | 3,080 | 1,220 | 4,170 | 5,280 | 5,240 | 2,870 |
LYNX | 11,890 | 9,650 | 6,540 | 3,840 | 2,470 | 950 |
DEFENDER | 2,110 | 1,760 | 1,920 | 2,000 | 1,760 | 1,190 |
Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid statistical bias.
These figures are Single Service figures and are not official statistics produced by Defence Statistics.