Leonardo announced that WIKING Helikopter Service GmbH has taken delivery of a new AW139 7-tonne intermediate twin engine helicopter from Leonardo’s Vergiate facility, further expanding an existing fleet of three aircraft. The helicopter will be used to carry out offshore transport missions supporting energy industry operations in Northern Europe.
WIKING has been an offshore transport specialist in the North and Baltic Sea areas for over 4 5 years. It has three bases in Germany and two in the UK. The Company also performs sea pilot transfer, a windmill engineer hoisting service and emergency medical service operations with its fleet of seven helicopters of various types.
“Our fleet standardization and modernization program launched a few years ago is helping to meet the evolving requirements of our customers and the growth of our AW139 fleet is providing a valuable support for this goal. Our decision to leverage the unrivalled mission capabilities, operational efficiency and reliability in its category of the popular AW139 are testament to our commitment to delivering the best level of safety, quality, and service across the region,” said Ernst Nassl, CEO Wiking Helikopter Service GmbH.
The AW139 has proven extremely popular in the region for offshore, search and rescue, passenger transport and law enforcement duties. The type set new standards in terms of flight and mission technology, cabin space and comfort, performance, safety and reliability, as well as introducing advanced support, maintenance and training services. The AW139 is even exceeding the evolving energy market’s stringent requirements with unique features including a 60+ minutes run dry capable main gearbox and full or limited ice protection system as an option to fly in known icing conditions for true all-weather operations. Nearly 1,200 AW139s have been ordered by more than 280 customers in over 70 nations to date for any kind of mission. The global fleet of nearly 1,100 units has amassed over 2.9 million flight hours to date.
