The AW139 has attained new important success as it was announced on August 5th the sale of one more AW139 intermediate twin-engine helicopter in VIP/corporate transport configuration for an undisclosed customer in North America. This latest contract continues the growing success of the AW139 for VIP transport mission in this key market, bringing the total number of aircraft sold in North America to 19. The latest AW139 aircraft for this market will feature a highly customized passenger cabin interior, designed to be easily reconfigured for different passenger loads.

The helicopter is also the star of another announcement concerning the signing of a cooperation agreement with the Italian Air Force for training services aimed at further strengthening their already well-established cooperation through the future set up of joint training services.

The partners intend to co-develop rotary-wing training services by leveraging on the capabilities and synergies between the AgustaWestland Training Organization facility located at Frosinone and the Italian Air Force's 72nd Wingwhich is also located at Frosinone. Through this mutually beneficial cooperation, the company will further expand the range of services it can offer in the training sector, while the Italian Air Force will enhance the level of training for its personnel.

The partners envisage the development of an integrated training solution based, on the one hand, on the state-of-the-art AW139 helicopter model for twin engine/IFR/NVG conversion training for crews of the Italian Air Force's HH-139A and VH-139 helicopters, used for search and rescue and government transport duties respectively, and the HH-101A which will primarily be used for personnel recovery and special forces operations.

Through the training academies in Italy, UK, USA and Malaysia, AgustaWestland enjoys an enviable track record in successfully training both military and commercial pilots and maintainers from all over the world. Training programmes are tailored to meet a customer's individual needs and operational requirements using established analytical processes.

Two important deliveries were also celebrated. Finmeccanica-AgustaWestland and Heliconia Aero Solutions indeed officialised the delivery of two AW139 intermediate class twin-engine helicopters to perform offshore transport missions in Morocco. The first aircraft has already entered service while the second one will enter operational service this week. The contract signed by the customer also included options for two additional AW139s.

The company has also delivered to Maryland State Police the 10th AW139 to be used for the state's emergency medical, search and rescue, law enforcement and homeland security missions. All 10 of the aircraft ordered have been fully built and delivered from the company's Philadelphia assembly line, with continued technical support provided by the Philadelphia-based Customer Support and Training team to ensure seamless entry of aircraft into service.

Globally, orders for nearly 790 AW139s have been placed by more than 210 customers in over 60 nations to date. Almost 700 units are already in service carrying out a wide variety of missions such as VIP/corporate and passenger transport, offshore transport, SAR/EMS, law enforcement, fire-fighting, government roles. The global fleet has recently set an outstanding milestone achieving 1 million flight hours in service worldwide.

Rome 06/08/2014

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