KATHMANDU: Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc company, has announced the successful demonstration tour of the new Bell 407GXP throughout Nepal. Bell Helicopter introduced the latest variant of the popular Bell 407 platform at Heli-Expo 2015 in March, with great customer interest. The new aircraft incorporates the reliability and advanced technology of the Bell 407GX platform, and introduces performance enhancements, payload increase and pilot workload reduction, as per a press statement issued on Wednesday. Bell Helicopter’s pilot began demonstration flights in Kathmandu, Nepal and into Mount Everest Base Camp area. While there, the Bell 407GXP successfully climbed to an altitude of 20,000 feet. The demonstration flight was executed from Lukla airfield, and demonstrated several landings from 13,500 to 19,600 feet near the Everest Base Camp. Derived from the Bell 407GX platform, the Bell 407GXP has an additional 22.5 kg of payload capability, coupled with the new M250 Rolls-Royce engine that improves performance and fuel efficiency. It is also equipped with new avionics features and transmission TBO extension of 500-plus hours that is expected to lower maintenance costs.