Leonardo-Finmeccanica: offshore helicopter fleet grows in the UAE with first AW169 delivered to Falcon Aviation Services

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Posted By: Marcel van Leeuwen May 25, 2016

  • First offshore-configured AW169 follows helicopters already delivered to customers in Europe and Australia for passenger transport, air ambulance and utility roles
  • Second AW169 to be delivered to Falcon Aviation in August to perform VVIP transport
  • Agreements for over 150 AW169s worldwide to date including firm orders, options and framework contracts

Leonardo-Finmeccanica announced today that Falcon Aviation ofAbu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) has taken delivery of a new generation AgustaWestland AW169 light intermediate twin helicopter this month. The handover makes Falcon Aviation the first operator in UAE to use the new type and the first customer worldwide to use the aircraft for offshore oil and gas transportation. The announcement was made during an official ceremony held at EBACE 2016 (Geneva, May 24th-26th). This delivery follows others in Europe and Australia for executive/private transport, emergency medical servicesand utility roles, testifying the versatility and global market success of the new model.

Falcon Aviation has placed orders for two AW169s, one in offshore transport and one in VVIP transport configuration. The offshore-configured AW169 will be used to support oil & gas operations in Abu Dhabi for TOTAL ABK. FAS has been supporting TOTAL ABK oil & gas operations for over eight years. The AW169 in VVIP configuration is to be delivered to Falcon Aviation in August.

The introduction of the new generation AW169 into their fleet will expand the range of Leonardo-Finmeccanica helicopters operated by Falcon Aviation which already include four light twin helicopters, comprising the Grand and GrandNew models, and two all new AW189 8.6 tonne helicopters.

Agusta Finmeccanica press release

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