Leonardo secures new orders at LABACE
Courtesy Leonardo
ICON, the official distributor of Leonardo’s AW109 Trekker (above) in Brazil, has signed firm orders for two units in VIP configuration. Additionally, one more VIP AW109 Trekker and one AW109 GrandNew were purchased by two different private regional operators. The Trekker combines the popular AW109 Grand airframe and large cabin with state-of-the-art Genesys Aerosystems core avionics and skids.
The company, which already has a 40% market share in the VIP multi-engine segment, has over 170 helicopters flying in Brazil and more than 220 in South America. These orders strengthen the presence of Leonardo in the key Brazilian helicopter market where the AW109 variants – particularly the AW109 Power, AW109 Grand and GrandNew, have proven popular and successful among many customers for passenger transport duties and other roles.
The AW109 Trekker, the newest light twin in Leonardo’s helicopter range, is already successful in other Latin American nations like Chile. Over 60 units have been sold to customers worldwide to date to perform a range of roles including VIP/corporate transport, EMS, utility and Law Enforcement.
Brazil is adding a AW169, upping the total AW169 VIP fleet to five by the end of 2019, which will join a further eight units in service across the Americas by then for VIP and EMS roles. The AW169s Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) mode provides safety and complete climate control (heat or cooling) and on-board system use and management,while the rotors remain fully stopped. The large cabin seats up to 10 people with room to spare.
Over 200 AW169s have been sold to customers worldwide to date to carry out VIP/Corporate transport, EMS/SAR, law enforcement, offshore transport, electronic newsgathering, firefighting, utility and for government/military duties.
