AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, announce the delivery of an additional AW139 helicopter to Bel Air of Denmark. The aircraft in offshore transport configuration will be used to ferry passenger to oil and gas installations in the North Sea.

So far the AW139s operated by Bel Air have been delivering exceptional availability and reliability with more than 8.000 airborne hours flown since 2009 and more than 640 airborne hours last month together logged by a total of four aircraft with a max of 192 airborne hours on one aircraft. Since starting up offshore operations with the AW139 Bel Air has achieved an impressive 99.6% on time flight schedule and performed more than 26,000 landings.

This latest delivery is part of Bel Air’s plan to increase its fleet to a total of six AW139s as it expands its operations in support of the North Sea oil and gas industry, as well as carrying out offshore wind turbine support and ad hoc helicopter services.

The all new 8-tonne class AW189 helicopter will also join the Bel Air fleet in the coming months after obtaining EASA certification, thus expanding Bel Air’s ability to perform long range offshore flights. The AW139 and AW189 are part of AgustaWestland’s family of new generation helicopters that share the same design philosophy to deliver savings to operators in the areas of maintenance, support and training.

State-of-the-art technology, outstanding performance, low operating costs and the only helicopter in its class to meet the latest operational standards, have made the AW139 the helicopter of choice in the medium twin market and the benchmark in the global oil & gas sector. With its power reserve, the AW139 delivers Category A (Class 1) performance from a helipad (elevated or at ground level) at maximum take-off weight with an unmatched one engine inoperative capability. The standard configuration provides seating for 12 or 15 passengers in a large and bright 8.0 m3 cabin with excellent ease of access and egress via large sliding cabin doors.

Over 190 customers from almost 60 countries have ordered about 720 AW139 helicopters so far.

Bel Air was established in 1994 and is the only Danish owned offshore helicopter company. It has  its main base at Holsted Heliport and operates offshore flights from its base at Esbjerg Airport.  Bel Air is also the official AgustaWestland Service Centre for the AW139 in Denmark.

Source and photo: AgustaWestland