The first NH90 delivered to Finland is baptized with champagne.

On March 11, 2008, the first of twenty NH90s Tactical Troop Transport (TTT) helicopters ordered by Finland was delivered in Marignane to Finland’s Army Air Corps. The very next day, the new helicopter was transported by ferry flight under the control of a crew from Finland’s armed forces, with a Eurocopter team providing support, to the army’s operational base in Utti. After taking off from Marignane on March 12, the helicopter landed in Utti two days later, having chalked up more than ten flight hours on a journey of nearly 3,000 kilometers that spanned Europe from south to north. The weather conditions were difficult for the trip, with wind gusts of nearly 100 km/hr, rain, an extremely low ceiling and icing conditions. This ferry flight gave the crew the chance to test the helicopter’s ice protection system and weather radar in real operating conditions. After this initial helicopter manufactured by Eurocopter, the other nineteen NH90s will be assembled by Patria in Finland. The first NH90 to roll off the line was delivered on April 23, 2008. That same day, a ceremony was held in Utti with Finland’s Minister of Defense Jyri Häkämies in attendance to celebrate the arrival of the first two NH90s.