Farnborough 14 July 2014
Yesterday, at the Farnborough International Airshow, Finmeccanica-AgustaWestland announced reaching the millionth flight hour by the entire fleet of AW139s operating around the world: ten years of operations in which the helicopters have covered a wide range of commercial, military and government missions, often in the most demanding environmental conditions.
770 AW139s helicopters ordered by more than 200 customers in over 60 countries around the world, of which 650 are in service today, make the AgustaWestland twin-engine helicopter the bestselling in its weight category and the benchmark type with a 56% mark share in the last five years.
Available in several versions and with more than thousand certified equipment options, the aircraft can be used for a wide range of applications, including offshore transport duties supporting the oil and gas industry, and equally excels in a wide spectrum of missions including rescue, homeland security, military transport and VIP/passenger transport .
In confirmation of the great success of the helicopter, some orders were confirmed yesterday, including: an AW139 in VIP/Corporate configuration for an undisclosed customer in UK, which brings to five the helicopters of this type sold in the last three years in the United Kingdom; an AW139 by 2015 for the Yokohama City Fire Department (Japan), the second for the Department, following the order closed at Farnborough from the Japanese Mitsui Bussan Aerospace; two machines, with the related training and support services, were ordered by the Ministry of Defence of People’s Republic of Bangladesh to equip the Air Force in the Asian country in its SAR missions.
Among other orders ratified by Finmeccanica-AgustaWestland during the day in the helicopter sector: a GrandNew and a Sokol W-3A have been ordered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uganda and will be operated by the Pùolice of to perform law enforcement missions across the nation; finally, the three AW119 Ke helicopters, already in service with the Turkish HeliStar, will be used in the aerial monitoring of the electrical infrastructure of the country, a service that the company has been selected to perform for TEIAS (Turkish Electricity Transmission Company).