With two aircraft displayed at Le Bourget, the AW139 represents one of AgustaWestland’s brightest hopes for the future.
The aircraft, which was originally developed as a joint venture by Agusta and Bell as the AB139, first flew on 3 February 2001, and is already in service with the Irish Air Corps, the Oman Police Air Wing, the Estonian Border Guard and the UAE Air Force in its military guise, and with a range of civilian operators.
Though the aircraft is being successfully marketed for use in a variety of roles including Corporate Transport, EMS, and Search and Rescue, the AW139 is also particularly well suited for offshore oil support operations. At Le Bourget AgustaWestland are showing both an Irish Air Corps AW139 and an aircraft belonging to Brazil’s Ocean Air Taxi Aereo, a subsidary of Synergy Aerospace.
The AW139 was an unsuccessful contender in the US Army’s recent Light Utility Helicopter Program (eventually losing out to the Eurocopter EC145) and is understood to be under consideration for the USAF’s Common Vertical Lift Support Platform requirement.
Source: Flight Daily News