AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce it has signed a contract with Bristow Group Inc. for six AW139 helicopters plus a number of options for additional aircraft. The contract was signed today at Heli-Expo in Las Vegas by Mark Duncan, Bristow Group SVP, Commercial and Emilio Dalmasso, AgustaWestland’s SVP Commercial Business. This latest contract increases the number of AW139 delivered and on order by Bristow Group to 15. In 2011 Bristow Group also ordered six 8-tonne class AW189 helicopters.

Emilio Dalmasso, AgustaWestland’s SVP Commercial Business, said at the ceremony “We are delighted Bristow has ordered more AW139s, which confirms Bristow’s satisfaction with the product and the support & training services provided by AgustaWestland. The class leading performance and safety features offered by the AW139 have made it the helicopter of choice for offshore oil and gas companies around the world and we are proud to have Bristow, one of the world’s largest and well know operators, as our customer.”

Mark Duncan, Bristow Group SVP, Commercial “We are pleased to announce the increase of our fleet with the AW family of new generation helicopters, bringing our fleet to a total of 15 AW139 and six AW189.  As we continue to grow and expand our market presence in several of our current and new markets, we will continue to rely on world-class manufacturers such as AgustaWestland.  These aircraft have been received positively by our clients as well as our pilots and mechanics.”

The AW139 is part of AgustaWestland’s family of new generation helicopters that includes the AW169 and AW189 models. 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 will deliver real cost savings in areas such as training, maintenance and support for operators having two or three of the models in their fleets.

Almost 690 AW139 helicopters have been ordered so far by nearly 190 customers in almost 60 countries to perform various roles including offshore transport, corporate and passenger transport, VIP transport, EMS/SAR, law enforcement, utility and several other roles.

The AW139 is the worldwide market leader in its weight class and has been selected to perform offshore transportation by oil and gas companies around the world due to its high performance and the fact it is the only new generation helicopter in its class that meets all the latest civil certification standards.

Bristow Group Inc. is a leading provider of helicopter services to the worldwide offshore energy industry and one of two helicopter service providers to the offshore energy industry with global operations. Through its subsidiaries, affiliates and joint ventures, the Company has significant operations in most major offshore oil and gas producing regions of the world, including the North Sea, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Nigeria, Australia and Latin America.