Fourth AW139 VIP To Join UK & Ireland Corporate Fleet

AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce the sale of the fourth AW139 intermediate twin helicopter for corporate transport in the UK & Ireland. This latest sale continues the success of the AW139 in the UK & Ireland corporate helicopter market in the last two years. The helicopter will be delivered in 2014 to an undisclosed customer. Almost 40 AW139 helicopters have been sold across Europe for VIP, corporate and government transport roles, making it the new benchmark in its weight class for executive and passenger transport. As  the only helicopter in its class to meet all the latest certification standards the AW139 is proving a popular replacement for older designs in a market, where safety, comfort and performance are the foremost considerations.

The AW139 delivers best-in-class performance with a maximum cruise speed of 165 knots (306 kph), a range in excess of 500 nm (927 km), endurance of 5 hours and superior hover performance. With its power reserve, the AW139 assures Category “A” (Class 1) superior performance from a helipad (elevated or at ground level) at maximum take-off weight. With the largest passenger cabin in its class the AW139 can accommodate up to 15 passengers or six to ten passengers is a number of spacious and comfortable VIP seating arrangements. The six large cabin windows provide passengers with a excellent view from the cabin with access via sliding doors or a hinged door. A wide range of customer specified optional equipment is available on the AW139 including audio visual equipment, telecommunications and refreshments stowage. The baggage compartment provides 3.4 m3 (120 ft3) of easily accessible storage with access from external doors and also the cabin if required.

The AW139’s modern design ensures ease of maintenance and high availability due to reduced numbers of components, easy access to all the main systems by ground technicians, extended life-cycles for critical components and advanced diagnostics technology. European customers can also undertake a range of training courses on the AW139 Level D Full Flight Simulators located at AgustaWestland’s ‘A. Marchetti’ Training Academy in Sesto Calende, Italy. The AW139 helicopter is part of AgustaWestland’s family of new generation helicopters that also includes the AW169 and AW189. These helicopters all possess the same high-performance flight characteristics and safety features whilst sharing the same common cockpit concept and design philosophy. This approach facilitates synergies for operators of more than one of these models in areas such as training, maintenance and support. Almost 720 AW139s have been sold in 60 countries to over 190 customers so far for many roles  including VIP/corporate transport, scheduled passenger transport, law enforcement, fire fighting, offshore transport, search and rescue, emergency medical service, disaster relief and maritime patrol. Nearly 700,000 flight hours have been logged by the world AW139 fleet so far.

Italian Army Takes Delivery of Its First NH90 TTH Helicopter in FOC Configuration

AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce that the first NH90 TTH in FOC (Final Operational Capability) configuration for the Italian Army has been delivered today during an official ceremony held at AgustaWestland’s Venice Tessera plant in the presence of Gen. Giangiacomo Calligaris, Commander of Italian Army Aviation, and Gen. Francesco Langella, ARMAEREO. This delivery brings to 21 the number of NH90 TTHs delivered to the Italian Army from an order for 60. This latest delivery marks another major milestone for the Italian Army NH90 programme. Five aircraft currently deployed in Afghanistan have now flown 470 flight hours with outstanding performance, reliability and mission effectiveness in the extreme and demanding environmental, weather and operational conditions there. The Italian Army also operates the NH90 programme fleet leader which has now flown approximately 900 flight hours.

AgustaWestland is also supplying integrated operational support through the PLS (Phased Logistic Support) programme scheme to ensure the Italian Army can maximize the operational effectiveness of its NH90 fleet.  AgustaWestland's Venice Tessera plant, covering 24,000 m2, is the new Italian final assembly line for the 160 NH90s ordered so far by Italy (Army and Navy, 60 and 56 helicopters respectively), the Netherlands (20), Norway (14) and Portugal (10). The Venice Tessera plant has expanded becoming the NH90 programme hub for all AgustaWestland customers, including the provision of maintenance, spare parts, engineering services, upgrades and modifications as well as future developments of new product configurations.

The NH90 TTH (Tactical Transport Helicopter) variant is a 11-tonne class helicopter configured to perform tactical transport missions in all environments by day and night. The NH90 TTH helicopters’s mission flexibility allows its users to perform additional roles such as internal/external load transport, heliborne operations, special operations, search and rescue, casualties evacuation and training missions. The NH90 TTH is the most modern helicopter in its weight class available in the market. It features a high level of system integration built around a dual bus core avionic system, full glass cockpit with multi-Function displays, fly-by-wire controls with a four-axis Automatic Flight Control System. The dedicated mission system includes among others: piloting forward looking infrared system, helmet mounted sight and display, obstacle warning system, electronic warfare system, tactical control and tactical communication system, weather radar, digital map generator and an on-board monitoring and diagnostic system. Up to 2 x M134D miniguns and ballistic protection further enhance its self-defence capabilities. It also features a fully composite crashworthy fuselage. The two modern GE/AVIO T700 – T6E1 engines provide the Italian Army’s NH90s with power reserve in all environments. The NH90 helicopter has provisions for a number of role equipments to enable mission flexibility and effectiveness coupled with a high level of safety and survivability. More than 140 NH90s have been delivered to 13 countries logging almost 40,000 flight hours to date. The twin-engine, medium-size NH90 helicopter programme is managed by the consortium NHIndustries, the Company owned by AgustaWestland (32%), Eurocopter (62.5%), and Stork Fokker (5.5%). The NH90 helicopter programme is the largest ever launched in Europe, with firm orders now reaching 529 units for 19 armed forces of 14 nations: France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Greece, Oman, Australia, New-Zealand, Spain and Belgium.

First of Two AW101 VVIP Helicopters Delivered to Turkmenistan

AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce the delivery of the first AW101 VVIP helicopter to Turkmenistan Airlines. The contract for two AW101 VVIP helicopters was signed at the 2010 Farnborough International Air Show. Assembly of the aircraft took place at AgustaWestland’s Yeovil facility in South West England. AgustaWestland has also provided pilot and maintainer training and an initial spares package under the contract.

AgustaWestland’s CEO, Daniele Romiti commented “It is a great honour that the AW101 has been selected to provide transport for Turkmenistan Airlines. We believe the AW101 is the most capable, comfortable and safe helicopter in its class and we look forward to seeing both aircrafts in service.” The AW101 has a very spacious cabin, high levels of passenger comfort and the very latest communications features, making it the ideal helicopter for the transport of Heads of State and other VVIP transport duties. Its cabin is 30% larger than its nearest competitor and it can fly up to 1000 km, whilst multiple redundancy of critical systems and components gives the aircraft unmatched levels of safety and survivability.

The aircraft departed Yeovil on 29th March, fully loaded for the 5 day ferry flight across Europe to Turkmenistan. The journey included stop-overs in Germany, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan prior to transiting to Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.  After over 30 hours of flight time the aircraft arrived serviceable to the main operational base.  Almost 200 AW101 helicopters have been ordered by customers around the world so far to perform a wide range of government, public service and military missions. The AW101 has logged over 280,000 flight hours in service in Italy, UK, Denmark, Portugal, Japan, Canada and others whilst delivering exceptional performance and high levels of safety.