Leonardo receives orders for additional AW139s for services in Italy

Leonardo has received orders, totalling €112m, for the delivery of additional AW139 intermediate twin engine helicopters to perform public service and security operations in Italy.

The first order was placed by the Italian Coast Guard for the supply of two AW139s, which will be used in search and rescue (SAR) missions.

Deliveries under this order will be completed by the end of 2018.

The AW139 fleet with the Italian Coast Guard has logged in 10,000 flight hours so far.

Under the second order, Leonardo will provide six AW139s to the Italian Customs and Border Protection Service (Guardia di Finanza) to perform patrol operations.

The helicopters under this order will be delivered by 2020.

The AW139s with the Italian Customs and Border Protection Service are deployed to perform various roles including mountain and maritime patrol and reconnaissance, law enforcement, SAR and homeland security.

The aircraft deliveries will bring the total number of AW139s with both the operators to 14 helicopters each.

These aircraft will replace ageing AB412 aircraft with the operators and allow a further enhancement in mission capability and simplified logistics.

The Italian Government operators for public services have ordered 53 AW139s so far.

More than 250 customers from around 70 nations have already ordered over 1,000 AW139s, of which nearly 900 are in service.