Leonardo: 2 millions of flight hours for the AW139 world fleet of helicopters

(To Leonardo)
27/12/17

The AW139 world-wide fleet of twin-engine helicopters has achieved an extraordinary milestone by surpassing the 2 million flight hours on five continents and
carrying out a wide range of missions to commercial, military and governmental clients. This result was achieved after only 3 years from the millionth flight hour demonstrating impressive qualities of reliability, operational effectiveness, safety and maintenance efficiency for different tasks.

Almost 900 are the AW139s currently in service around the world and more than 1000 units sold to over 300 customers in 80 countries. The fleet leader alone passed the 12.000 flight hours. The AW139, assembled in Vergiate and Philadelphia, has become a reference point on the world market and the most successful helicopter program in the last 15 years. Among the numerous operational applications are search and rescue, ambulance, public order and national security, patrolling, fire fighting, civil protection, offshore and VIP / Corporate transport, utilities and military roles.

The recent operating result is the result of a combination of project quality and general quality, performance and market presence, together with the support capabilities and the variety of maintenance services provided by the Company throughout the world.

The AW139 meets the latest certification and safety standards with high performance, power and ability to operate with only one engine running. The transmission is able to continue to operate regularly for more than 60 minutes in the event of a lack of lubrication. Designed to ensure maximum versatility and customization possibilities, the AW139 is available with over 1000 kits and optional equipment. Among the most innovative are ice protection and an obstacle detection system based on laser technology, which guarantee exceptional safety and increase the capacity of the product.

The AW139 has grown significantly over the years, with an increase in take-off weight up to 7 tonnes, new procedures in offshore flight to support the energy supply industry, avionics interventions on advanced navigation, anti-collision systems and much other.

Maintenance services have also been extended, leading to a reduction of 30% of the intervention times on the machine, to the establishment of integrated company-customer groups for the best sharing of information and the launch of an operational flight manual in addition to the basic standard. Since the certification, obtained in the 2004, about 5300 pilots and 7700 maintenance technicians have been trained and more than 150.000 hours of flight to the simulator have been accumulated.

The AW139 is part of Leonardo's new generation helicopter family which also includes the AW169 and AW189. All these models share the same design philosophy, high performance and flight characteristics, safety standards and very similar cockpit. This approach fosters a number of positive synergies for practitioners of the three models in areas such as training and support. The design of the AW139, its success and the accumulated operational experience were crucial for the development of the other two models and the same family concept.