Finmeccanica – AgustaWestland and Australian Helicopters signed a contract for AW139 intermediate twin-engine helicopters that will be operated for Ambulance Victoria under a 10 year agreement to perform Emergency Medical Service (EMS) missions. The aircraft, which are expected to enter service in January 2016, will be based at Essendon, Bendigo, Latrobe Valley and Warrnambool airports. The new fleet will replace Ambulance Victoria’s present five helicopters and includes a dedicated back-up aircraft to maintain services when heavy aircraft maintenance is required.

The AW139 is a new generation helicopter that sets new standards of safety, comfort and performance in the intermediate twin-engine helicopter market. Designed with inherent multi-role capability and flexibility of operation, the AW139 has the most spacious cabin and the best power reserve of any helicopter in its class. The internal dimensions of the AW139’s roomy unobstructed cabin make it an ideal choice for EMS applications. The flat floor, large cabin doors and unobstructed cabin provide easy and quick access for stretchers and survivors. The new technology Honeywell Primus Epic® fully integrated avionics package, a 4-axis digital AFCS and large flat panel color displays in the cockpit, reduce pilot workload and allow the crew to concentrate on the demanding missions they are often tasked to perform.

The AW139 has become the benchmark intermediate twin-engine helicopter with orders for more than 770 helicopters having been placed by over 200 commercial and government customers in over 60 countries. The AW139 perform a wide range of roles including search and rescue, emergency medical services, offshore transport, VIP/corporate transport, law enforcement, homeland security and utility. Particularly, the AW139 has rapidly become the intermediate twin-engine helicopter of choice for search and rescue and Emergency Medical Service missions having already been selected by customers in Asia, Middle East, Europe, North America, Australasia and Africa.

AgustaWestland has a long history of providing state-of-the-art helicopters to both commercial and government customers in Australia and New Zealand. In total, over 50 AgustaWestland helicopters are currently in service in the region.

Australian Helicopters, part of the Avincis Group, provides mission-critical helicopter support for a range of services including Emergency Medical (EMS), Search and Rescue (SAR), surveillance operations, law enforcement, aerial work and Marine Pilot Transfer (MPT). With over 20 years’ experience in the field, Australian Helicopters is one of the country’s largest independent emergency and mission-critical helicopter providers.

Ambulance Victoria aims to improve the health of the community by providing high quality pre-hospital care and medical transport. Ambulance Victoria provides emergency medical response to more than 5.5 million people in an area of more than 227,000 square kilometers.