Helicopters Italy orders eight Leonardo AW139 helicopters

The deal is valued at 112 million Euro based on list prices. All aircraft will be delivered until 2020. To date, the Italian Government has ordered 53 AW139s for public services. When all aircraft are delivered, Coast Guard and the Customs and Border Protection Service will have a fleet of 14 AW139s each. This allows a better logistic capability and simplified mission scheduling.

The Italian Coast Guard will use their AW139s for search and rescue missions and are intended to replace the old AB412 helicopters. Recently, the operator passed the 10,000 flight hours’ milestone.

Italian´s Customs and Border Protection Service (Guardia di Finanza) will use the six additional AW139 aircraft to perform law enforcement, homeland security and SAR missions. Further, mountain and maritime patrol and reconnaissance missions will be flown across the nation.

Leonardo´s AW139 is an intermediate twin-engine helicopter. It features an advanced avionics system and can perform under hot and high conditions. The aircraft can be configured for special operating missions. Over 250 customers from 70 countries have ordered more than 1000 AW139s, from which 900 are already in service.