Mar. 5 – AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, has won orders with a total value of about € 350 million for commercial helicopters. Among the principal agreements, signed during Heli-Expo 2013 (HAI), which is taking place in Las Vegas (USA), are the ones signed with the British company Sloane Helicopters, for two GrandNew and two AW169 helicopters, and with Bristow Group Inc. which expands its fleet of AW139 helicopters, adding six more aircraft plus options. In addition to this orders, Waypoint Leasing signed a multi-year agreement covering different models of GrandNew, AW169, AW139 and AW189, and the company Caverton added three AW139s to its offshore-configured fleet to be operated in Nigeria. Furthermore, the helicopter company of Finmeccanica sold two AW139 to customers in the USA for VIP/corporate transport purposes, one additional GrandNew to the Japan National Police Agency and one AW119Kx to the Australian company Wagners Development Company Pty Ltd, the first sold in Australasia. The contracts signed confirm the expanding presence of the AgustaWestland range of commercial helicopters in the world market. The AW119Kx and GrandNew offer operators unequalled capabilities in terms of avionics, performance, cabin space and safety standards. The AW169, AW139 and AW189 are part of a Family of new-generation products. These 4-8 ton products share common equipment and components, as well as operating capacity, and have the same design philosophy. These characteristics offer greater operating flexibility to operators, simplified training activities and faster maintenance, thus reducing costs.
