Kocoglu Aviation Takes Delivery of Another AW109 Power

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Posted By: Marcel van Leeuwen January 28, 2011

Koçoğlu Aviation of Turkey has taken delivery of another emergency medical service (EMS) configured AW109 Power light twin engine helicopter. The handover was performed during an official ceremony held at AgustaWestland’s Vergiate plant today in the presence of Turkish Ministry of Health dignitaries as well as representatives from the operator and AgustaWestland. Koçoğlu Aviation, with this latest addition, now operates eight AW109 Powers and one Grand. The aircraft will be used to perform EMS missions for the Turkish Ministry of Health from various bases throughout Turkey. Koçoğlu Aviation was awarded a contract by the Turkish Ministry of Health to provide EMS helicopters as well as doctors and paramedics, for a sun-up / sun-down service, following a tender process in 2008. The Ministry of Health contract has established the first EMS helicopter service in Turkey to serve a large part of the community utilising bases in 15 cities. The AW109 Power was selected following a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation process for the supply of a new EMS helicopter.

Emilio Dalmasso, Senior Vice President Commercial Business Unit, AgustaWestland said at the ceremony: “It gives us great pleasure to deliver an additional AW109 Power to one of the world’s leading EMS operators. The choice of the AW109 Power further strengthens AgustaWestland’s position in the Turkish commercial helicopter market. He then added “ It also confirms our customer’s satisfaction with the AW109 Power, thanks to its excellent mission capability, reliability and effectiveness to meet and often exceed the requirements of the growing demand for EMS operations across Turkey in the last two years.” Ugur Koçoğlu, CEO of Koçoğlu Aviation, said: “We are proud to take delivery of another AW109 Power, again in a very short handover time which underlines AgustaWestland’s commitment to enable us to promptly put into service new EMS helicopters to serve our community. With this and hopefully more orders to be placed, we aim to utilize more and more the capabilities of our helicopters in Turkey not only in EMS but also in VIP and other special missions. I hereby would like to thank again all the AgustaWestland team for their hard work and continuous support to Skyline Aviation.”

The AW109 Power is a highly versatile twin engine helicopter and offers the highest levels of performance with low operating costs. The AW109 Power in an EMS configuration combines the finest patient care environment within a cabin that exceeds today’s requirements. The AW109 Power has been making an outstanding contribution to the communities they serve, setting a new standard in the aeromedical sector in its class. More than 470 helicopters have been ordered for both civil and paramilitary purposes from customers in almost 50 countries. The AW109 Power can perform a wide range of roles including VIP/corporate, law enforcement, maritime applications, harbour pilot shuttle and training. Koçoğlu Aviation is part of Koçoğlu Holding which is involved in several sectors including construction, tourism, energy, transportation and aviation. Established in 2005, Koçoğlu Aviation currently owns the largest commercial helicopter fleet in Turkey, offering EMS services, VIP transport and air cargo. Koçoğlu Aviation has 19 heliports, 21 hangars and maintenance facilities with almost 300 employees following an investment of more than €120 million so far. Skyline, a Koçoğlu Holding company and an authorized JAR 145 organization for repair and maintenance services, was appointed as an AgustaWestland Service Centre for the AW109 Power and Grand models in Turkey in June 2009. Skyline will offer on-site support services to Koçoğlu Aviation’s fleet and to other AW109 Power and Grand operators in Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Their main maintenance centre is located at Ankara Airport with line maintenance hangars available in other cities. A second base maintenance hangar of 1850m2 at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport General Aviation Hangars Section is under construction and will be completed by May 2011. Skyline has over 17.000 EMS flight hours, more than 1.500 training flight hours within its own TRTO and performed almost 12.000 life saving missions since inauguration of the HEMS system in Turkey.

Source and photo: AgustaWestland

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