reportedly impressed with its appearance and performance figures. Another feature which became apparent upon entering service was the low noise levels produced, in part due to its fenestron tail, the EC135 was the quietest aircraft in its class for more than 15 years. Despite the helicopter's design being primarily oriented towards emergency medical operators, the EC135 had considerable appeal to a wide range of operators. European JAA certification was achieved on 16 June 1996, with FAA approval following on 31 July. On 2 December 1999, the EC135 was granted single-pilot IFR (SPIFR) certification by Germany's Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA). In December 2000, the United Kingdom's Civil Aviation Authority also gave the EC135 SPIFR certification. Further development In 2000, Eurocopter announced the start of certification work on the EC135P2, powered by the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW206B2, offering improved single-engine performance and 30-second emergency power. The LBA certification was achieved on 10 July 2001, and the first EC135 with the new engines was handed over to the Swedish Police Authority on 10 August 2001. In September 2002, the EC135T2 equipped with the improved Turbomeca Arrius 2B2 was made available, also providing for improved single-engine performance. In 2002, the EC135 active control technology demonstrator/flying helicopter simulator (ACT/FHS), a research aircraft designed to test fibre optic-based flight control systems, undertook its first flight. In 2014, Airbus Helicopters began flying the Bluecopter demonstrator aircraft, built to explore more efficient design elements, including economy-optimised single-engine operations, Blue Edge swept rotor blades to reduce noise and increase efficiency, a relocated horizontal stabilizer outside the main rotor's downwash, an active rudder, and new water-based external paint; these changes were aimed at cutting fuel consumption by 40%. In December 2014, it was revealed that the single-engine operations portion of the Bluecopter tests had been delayed to summer 2016 to make necessary avionics changes, such as to the engine's FADEC systems. At the NBAA in March 2007 in Atlanta, Eurocopter unveiled 'L'Hélicoptère par Hermès, a special-edition VIP model designed by Hermès International, S.A.; it features a customized luxury four-place main cabin, a sliding glass partition, a corporate baggage hold, redesigned skid landing gear and other external changes. The launch customer for the type is Falcon Aviation Services (FAS), based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In July 2014, Airbus Helicopters announced that it was making further personalization options available for the EC135 l'Helicoptere par Hermes. In 2011, Eurocopter formalised a license