Press Release

Issued by Leonardo Helicopters.

March 4, 2015

Finmeccanica – AgustaWestland announced today it has appointed Heliconia Industries Sarl as an authorized service centre for the AW139 intermediate twin helicopter in Morocco. Heliconia, an official distributor of AgustaWestland commercial helicopters in Morocco since early 2014 with two offshore-configured AW139s already in service and a contract for two additional helicopters, will provide a range of support and maintenance services from its base headquartered in Marrakech, Morocco.

This latest step further expands the partnership between AgustaWestland and Heliconia to ensure the AW139s can get the best level of on-site services to maximise operational effectiveness in support of the oil and gas industry.

Heliconia Group, with companies based in Morocco and France, is already a major provider of helicopter services in north African countries, where it undertakes aerial work and more recently offshore transportation. Heliconia is already working on further regional developments from its Morocco-based operations.

The best-selling helicopter in its category with a 56% share in the global market, the AW139 has become the benchmark platform for offshore transport operations and has achieved growing success for a variety of applications in the north Africa region. Over 220 customers from more than 70 countries have ordered nearly 900 AW139 helicopters so far. More than 730 AW139s are already in service around the world.

The AW139 is part of the AgustaWestland family of new generation helicopters that includes the AW169 and AW189 models, which possess the same high performance flight characteristics and safety features as well as sharing a common cockpit layout, design philosophy and maintenance concept. This commonality will allow more effective operations for customers operating helicopter fleets across the 4 to 8.5 tonne categories. The AW139 benefits from a range of modern, constantly enhanced and tailored support and training capabilities, designed to deliver outstanding mission effectiveness and safety standards whatever the mission, leveraging on the expanding network of AgustaWestland service and training centres worldwide.