AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, says that its eight-seat twin-engine GrandNew helicopter will begin a six day demonstration tour of New Zealand on 4th April. The tour will start in New Plymouth on the west coast of North Island and will also include stops in, among others, Wellington, Dunedin and Wanaka before finishing in Auckland. During the tour, both existing customers and potential customers will experience the comfort, performance and capabilities of the GrandNew which can fulfill a wide range of civil and public service roles.

The GrandNew features the most advanced avionics of any helicopter in its class while retaining the outstanding performance characteristics of the original Grand. The GrandNew is the first type certified light twin (CS/JAR/FAR 27) to enter service with a new EFIS featuring Synthetic Vision and the first helicopter in this class on the market fully compliant with the latest advanced global positioning system-based navigation requirements for all weather operations. Orders for almost 340 Grand and GrandNew helicopters have been placed by over 200 customers in nearly 40 countries worldwide to perform many missions including VIP/corporate transport, passenger transport, law enforcement, emergency medical service, SAR, harbor pilot shuttle, maritime patrol and water pollution monitoring.

AgustaWestland has a long history in Australia and New Zealand, providing state-of-the-art helicopters to both commercial and government customers. In New Zealand emergency medical service customers include the Taranaki Rescue Helicopter Trust and Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust, while commercial operators such as HNZ have chosen AgustaWestland helicopters for various missions including offshore transport, harbor pilot and transport duties. In total, over 50 AgustaWestland helicopters are in service in the Australasia region.