The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has certified Dart Aerospace's external cargo basket for the Bell 505 helicopter, reports London's Air Cargo Week.

The approval enables certified external freight operations, expanding mission flexibility and regulatory confidence. Operators can now combine passenger and cargo missions in a single flight, improving utilisation and lowering costs.

Helicopters provide critical last mile logistics where fixed-wing aircraft cannot operate, including offshore energy sites, mountainous regions and disaster zones. External cargo carriage preserves cabin space for personnel while expanding payload versatility.

Certification allows operators to integrate the cargo basket into approved flight operations and maintenance programmes. Smaller helicopter firms benefit by diversifying missions without new aircraft investment, strengthening commercial viability.

Applications include Europe's expanding energy infrastructure, where simultaneous deployment of technicians and equipment reduces downtime. Oil and gas, telecommunications and remote engineering projects also stand to gain from improved aerial logistics.

Emergency and humanitarian missions will benefit from rapid deployment of relief supplies while maintaining passenger capacity. Standardised certification enhances safety assurance across multinational response frameworks.

Incremental innovations such as certified cargo baskets improve productivity of light helicopters like the Bell 505. Compared with larger rotorcraft, they offer cost-effective logistics alternatives for medium-weight missions.

The certification signals a shift in operational philosophy, positioning helicopters as feeders within multimodal supply chains. As logistics networks decentralise, adaptability at the margins becomes a key measure of efficiency.