Order Spread Among Much Of The AW Product Line

Weststar Aviation Services of Malaysia has signed a contract for 10 AgustaWestland helicopters at this week's Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) exhibition. The contract is valued at approximately $150 million (US), is made up of five AW139s configured for offshore transport, one AW139 for VIP transport, two AW169s and two AW189s. It was signed Wednesday by Tan Sri Syed Azman Syed Ibrahim, Group Managing Director of Weststar and Bruno Spagnolini, CEO, AgustaWestland.

Weststar will be the first operator worldwide to benefit from the commonality in design across the AW139, AW169 and AW189 family of new generations helicopters. As well as possessing the same high performance flight characteristics and safety features the helicopters share a common cockpit layout, design philosophy and maintenance concepts that will allow more effective operations for customers operating helicopter fleets from 4 to 8.5 tonnes.

This order adds to the one signed by Weststar Aviation Services in the first quarter of 2010 for nine AW139s and another one AW 139 in the second quarter of 2010, that are now all in service supporting Petronas and other oil companies offshore operations in Peninsular Malaysia. The AW139 started operations on 1st April 2011 and in less than eight months have flown more than 8,000 hours.

Tan Sri Syed Azman Syed Ibrahim, Group Managing Director of Weststar, commented "Weststar is proud to be associated with AgustaWestland. We want to continue this relationship in Malaysia and to expand the relationship to the region where the demand for this industry is ever increasing. As Weststar plans for its regional expansion, AgustaWestland and Weststar will continue to collaborate to provide quality services and products to support our operations."

Bruno Spagnolini, CEO, AgustaWestland said at the ceremony "We are delighted that Weststar has chosen AgustaWestland to meet its fleet expansion plans. We are sure our range of high performance new technology products will serve both Weststar and its customers exceptionally in the markets it serves. As the region's largest AW139 operator and a major provider of offshore helicopter services we are also very pleased to have Weststar as one of the lead customers for both the AW169 and AW189."

The order marks the first sales in Malaysia for AgustaWestland's new generation AW169 and AW189 helicopters. Deliveries of the AW189 are scheduled to start in 2014 and in 2015 for the AW169. AgustaWestland Malaysia Sdn Bhd will provide pilot and technician training services and comprehensive support services for the helicopters from its headquarters at Kuala Lumpur's Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport.

FMI: www.agustawestland.com