Gulf Helicopters Company (GHC), a major player in the offshore transport sector and an established AW139 and AW189 operator, is the launch customer for the Leonardo’s AW189K series, which will be pressed into service in the second half of 2020.
The AW189, which is manufactured by the Milan Stock Exchange-listed Leonardo, has already demonstrated it to be one of the company’s most successful models through its sales, deliveries and flight hours. GHC is a subsidiary of the Qatar Stock Exchange-listed Gulf International Services.
The selection of the AW189K by GHC, the launch customer of the AW189 in the offshore market back in 2014, evidences the customer’s trust with Leonardo’s products to meet its stringent operational requirements.
The new model, currently under development with over 350 flight hours logged to date, has shown excellent capabilities in a wide range of demanding weight, altitude and temperature conditions, said Leonardo, a global high-tech aerospace, defence and security company.
Powered by a pair of latest generation Safran Helicopter Engines’ Aneto-1K 2,500 ship class turbo shafts, the AW189K offers the market a further option for efficient long range, high endurance and large capacity operations with lower operating costs compared to larger, heavier types.
The AW189K delivers a high level of performance, particularly in hot and high conditions, and is ideally suited to meet customer requirements across a range of geographies, including the Middle East where Leonardo plays a leading role for various missions with its modern product portfolio.
Applications which would benefit from the AW189K’s outstanding performance include offshore, SAR, parapublic and fire-fighting, and VIP transport.
As many as 70 AW189s are in service worldwide today carrying out long range offshore, search and rescue, VIP transport, MEDEVAC, disaster relief and fire-fighting operations and have logged over 74,000 flight hours.