Société FCL of France has taken delivery of a GrandNew light twin engine helicopter. The helicopter was handed over at a ceremony held at AgustaWestland’s Vergiate facility in Italy on 23rd September. The helicopter will be used for private and charter services from its base in Paris and also along the Côte d’Azur.

The GrandNew was chosen by the customer for its class leading performance, modern technology, safety features and reliability. This aircraft is the fourth GrandNew to be delivered to a French customer and continues the growing success of the AW109 Power and Grand models in the French helicopter market.

The GrandNew features advanced vision systems to achieve a new level of situation and terrain awareness. A Synthetic Vision System (SVS), Highway in The Sky (HITS) and Helicopter Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems (HTAWS) provide realistic obstacle awareness in low visibility flying conditions, three dimensional guidance and detailed terrain maps. These systems provide an advanced operating capability which sets a new benchmark in safety.

Orders for more than 300 helicopters from the Grand series have been placed by nearby 180 customers in over 30 countries worldwide, in order to perform many tasks including emergency medical service, search and rescue, VIP/corporate transport, passenger transport, harbour pilot shuttle, maritime patrol, law enforcement, water pollution monitoring and electronic newsgathering.

Source and photo: AgustaWestland