AgustaWestland at Helitech 2010

AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, attends Helitech 2010 (Cascais, Portugal, October 5th - 7th) with its range of helicopters and exhibiting a Portuguese Air Force's AW101 medium/heavy three engine helicopter within the static display.

AgustaWestland boasts a long and successful commitment to Portugal, with the sale of more than thirty military and commercial helicopters and the establishment of a firm presence through its in-country subsidiary AgustaWestland Portugal S.A. and the regional business headquarters based in Lisbon. This is aimed at helping expand AgustaWestland's business in Portugal, providing complete helicopter support services, managing aerospace manufacturing and engineering services offset and R&D agreements involving local companies as subcontractors with mutual benefits, fostering Portuguese players' competitiveness in the worldwide aerospace market.

The Portuguese Air Force's fleet of twelve AW101 helicopters based at Montijo Air Base have now exceeded 10,000 flying hours whilst performing search and rescue and fishery protection duties. The AW101s, whose delivery started in 2004, have been performing search and rescue, combat search and rescue and fishery protection tasks. Hundreds of SAR mission have been accomplished covering the largest SAR area of responsibility of any European country and saving over 630 lives over a large area of the Atlantic Ocean operating from bases on the mainland, Lajes in the Azores and Madeira. In 2008 AgustaWestland signed a 15 years contract with Locação de Equipamentos de Defesa SA (DEFLOC) for the long term provision of support for the Portuguese Air Force's AW101s. Furthermore the Portuguese Navy operates five Lynx Mk.95 multirole naval helicopters to perform ASW and ASuW missions further expanding the use of AgustaWestland aircraft on the sea. As far as the Portuguese Army is concerned, ten NH90 TTH (Tactical Transport Helicopter) medium twin helicopters are on order to perform utility and tactical transport duties and will be assembled by AgustaWestland in Italy.

With reference to the commercial market, it is worth of mentioning the selection of the AW109 Power as the new light twin platform to perform emergency medical service operations in the country supporting INEM (Instituto Nacional de Emergência Médica). Three units will provide unmatched performance, cabin space and comfort as well as the highest technology and safety standard to effectively serve the community, with an overall requirement for five aircraft. Moreover, leading provider of private VIP/corporate transport services Vinair Aeroserviços S.A. is to receive its brand new GrandNew light twin helicopters. As the first customer for the new type in the world market, Vinair will perform a quantum leap forward in operational capability and safety thanks to the outstanding performance and technology of the GrandNew. An evolution of the highly successful Grand helicopter, the Grand New features the most modern developments in avionics while retaining the outstanding Grand's characteristics. As the first light twin helicopter on the market fully compliant with the latest advanced global positioning system-based navigation requirements for all weather operations, the Grand New offers the operators unprecedented opportunities for the exploitation of rotorcraft capabilities setting a new standard on the helicopter market in a multitude of applications.

In support of its increasing business activities in Portugal, AgustaWestland opened a new regional business headquarters in Lisbon, following the establishment of its in-country subsidiary AgustaWestland Portugal S.A. The new headquarters plays an important role in supporting the company's latest initiatives and partnerships as well as helping to expand the business in Portugal where AgustaWestland sees significant future business opportunities. An offset agreement related to the AW101 helicopter contract was signed in August 2008 includes the provision of aerospace manufacturing and engineering services in which AgustaWestland Portugal will play a major role as will other local companies including OGMA and CEIIA. A six year agreement was signed in December 2008 for the Research and Development, Design and Engineering Project (RDE) under which Portuguese companies and universities are being involved in diversified aerospace-related projects. The main aeronautical fields targeted include mechanical systems, aircraft interiors, structures and composites, electronic and software systems. AgustaWestland sees a significant number of new opportunities in the Portuguese market including the Portuguese Army's and Air Force's potential requirements for light twin multirole and training helicopters as well as for various applications in the commercial helicopter market including EMS (Emergency Medical Service).

Source: AgustaWestland

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