"AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, and Weststar Aviation Services are pleased to announce that a contract for 10 AW139 intermediate twin helicopters was signed today at the Singapore Air Show by Vincenzo Alaimo, Managing Director of AgustaWestland Malaysia Sdn Bhd, and General Tan Sri Muhammad Ismail Jamaluddin (R), Weststar Aviation Services CEO," said a statement from Weststar Aviation on Tuesday.
According to Weststar, the additional order by one of the major oil & gas operators in the area signifies the success of the AW139 and of AgustaWestland for offshore missions with a 56% market share in the intermediate category in the last 5 years.
“The AW139 helicopters already make up the majority of the Weststar Aviation Services fleet and we have enjoyed a stellar track record utilising them. As Weststar Aviation Services now moves forward in its international expansion efforts, we are delighted and confident to further cement AgustaWestland as our preferred helicopter partner," said Ismail.
Ismail also said that the model not only has the same high performance flight characteristics and safety features but also shared a common cockpit layout, design philosophy and maintenance concepts like AW169 and AW189, which are bigger than AW139.
Managing Director of AgustaWestland Malaysia Vincenzo Alaimo, said Weststar’s recent purchase reaffirms how AW139 is the benchmark by major operators who strive for the best performances and the highest safety standards.
"What’s more, Weststar is one of the many operators who put their confidence in our family of helicopters and will soon see all the benefits of this concept," he said.
This latest contract brings the total number of AW139s helicopters that will be operated by Weststar Aviation Services to 34.
Weststar is the first operator worldwide who chose to benefit from the commonality in design across the entire Family of new generation helicopters AW139, AW169 – with 2 units on order – and AW189 – with four units ordered.
As well as possessing the same high performance flight characteristics and safety features the helicopters share a common cockpit layout, design philosophy and maintenance concepts that will allow more effective operations for customers operating helicopter fleets from 4.5 to 8 tonnes.
The first AW139 entered service with Weststar Aviation Services on 1st April 2011 and since then the fleet has amassed more than 40,000 flight hours in almost three years.
The AW139 has achieved great success in Malaysia in recent years with orders placed by local operators for corporate, firefighting, EMS/SAR and coastal patrol missions.
The machine can carry up to 15 passengers in its spacious cabin. Over 750 AW139s have now been ordered by approximately 200 customers around the world with more than 620 now in service.
Meanwhile, Weststar Aviation is also aiming for at least RM10 billion worth of contracts by expanding its offshore helicopter transportation services to the oil and gas companies by year-end.
Ismail said the company would provide two helicopters to an oil and gas company in Morocco next month as the next plan of the company's expansion programme, he said in report from Bernama.
He said the company signed contracts in Thailand last month to supply six helicopters and was planning to expand services in Morocco next month, including a bid to win contracts in Mozambique.
