The AW139 intermediate twin-engine helicopter fleet operated by Weststar Aviation Services of Malaysia has achieved the milestone of 20,000 flying hours, just 18 months after their first AW139 entered service in April 2011.  Weststar is the largest civil operator of AW139 helicopters in Asia and has ordered 16 AW139s with 12 aircraft already in service. The company started operations with the AW139 on April 1st 2011 in support of Petronas and other oil companies offshore operations in Peninsular Malaysia from their bases in Kerteh, Kota Bharu and Kuala Terengganu serving a number of prominent companies including Petronas Carigali, ExxonMobil, Talisman, Newfield, Petrofac, and TOTAL.

Vincenzo Alaimo, Head of Region and Managing Director, AgustaWestland Malaysia Sdn Bhd said “We congratulate Weststar Aviation Services on achieving the milestone of 20,000 hours in such a short time, accomplishing its missions in demanding environmental and operational conditions.” He added “We now look forward to celebrating future milestones with Weststar Aviation Services who’s set to be one of the first operators to introduce into service the complete AgustaWestland Family of new generation helicopters having ordered AW189s and AW169s to complement their AW139 fleet.”  Weststar will be the first operator worldwide to benefit from the commonality in design across the AW139, AW169 and AW189 family of new generations helicopters. 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 to 8.5 tonnes.  Achieving the 20,000 flying hour milestone for the Weststar Aviation Services’ fleet of AW139s marks another major milestone for this helicopter programme. The AW139 has become the best selling helicopter in its class for an impressive variety of commercial and government roles meeting the most demanding requirements across the globe.

Since its certification in 2003, the AW139 has been constantly enhanced to achieve ever increasing levels of performance, safety, mission effectiveness and capability to meet the very latest challenging requirements of present and future customers. Over 500 aircraft are now in service performing many roles including offshore transport, EMS/SAR, VIP/corporate transport, law enforcement and military transport. Almost 180 customers from more than 50 countries have ordered nearly 650 AW139 helicopters so far. AgustaWestland Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of AgustaWestland, continues to play a major role in the Malaysian helicopter market expanding its presence and increasing its capabilities through a continued programme of investment. Located at Kuala Lumpur’s Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, AgustaWestland Malaysia’s regional maintenance and support centre is a Malaysian DCA approved maintenance and repair organization. AgustaWestland Malaysia Sdn Bhd provides local support and training for the growing fleet of AgustaWestland customers in the region.

Source and photo: AgustaWestland