UTair confirms a planned order of 20 AW139 helicopters
During MAKS-2011 air show UTair Aviation (the largest helicopter operator in Russia and one of the largest in the world), Russian Helicopters (subsidiary of JSC UIC Oboronprom, part of Russian Technologies State Corporation) and AgustaWestland (a Finmeccanica company) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a planned order of 20 AW139 helicopters to be assembled in Russia.
During the air show AgustaWestland and Russian Helicopters have also announced the establishment of HeliVert, a joint venture company which will assemble and deliver to UTair a batch of AW139 helicopters from its Tomilino plant in the Moscow region.
Andrey Martirosov, UTair CEO said: “We are sure that the replenishment of the Company fleet with modern AW139 aircraft will enable UTair to increase the volume of operations by a multipurpose use of these helicopters and their high level of reliability. Continuous modernization of UTair helicopter fleet and qualification of UTair employees ensure our leading position in the market of helicopter services.”
Bruno Spagnolini, AgustaWestland CEO said: “It gives us great pleasure to sign this Memorandum of Understanding with UTair, strengthening our good working relationship with the leading helicopter operator in Russia. We are also delighted that the HeliVert facility will be officially opened in October this year and will start to assemble the market leading AW139 in Russia, strengthening the range of Russian helicopters available in the market.”
HeliVert’s Tomilino plant, near Moscow, will have the capacity to assemble up to 20 helicopters per year, with production to start later this year and progressively increase to a steady state regime by 2015. The total headcount at maximum capacity will be over 100 people. The plant will meet the growing demand for the AW139 helicopter in both Russian and CIS civil markets.
A Heads of Agreement was signed by AgustaWestland and Russian Helicopters in Farnborough in July 2008 for the purpose of establishing a joint venture to set up and run a civil AW139 final assembly line in Russia. This was followed by the Joint Venture Agreement signed on November 6, 2008 during the Italy-Russia intergovernmental summit held at the Kremlin in Moscow and attended by the Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. A shareholder agreement was subsequently signed in June 2010 paving the path to start building the plant in Tomilino.
UTair Aviation JSC is the world’s largest helicopter operator in terms of carrying capacity and number of rotorcraft, with more than 330 helicopters of all classes. UTair is the largest helicopter service provider to the United Nations, with cooperation agreements since 1992. In Russia core clients for UTair helicopter services are leading oil and gas companies. In 2011, UTair helicopter operations will span across Russia and ten foreign countries, with a 6.5% increase in the volume of export services.
AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is a major force in commercial and military helicopter markets around the world and offers an unrivalled range of helicopters, training and support solutions to satisfy customer's mission requirements. AgustaWestland's main facilities are located in Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland and the United States of America.
Russian Helicopters JSC is an affiliated company of UIC Oboronprom. It is the managing body of the following helicopter industry enterprises: Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, Kamov, Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant, Kazan Helicopters, Rostvertol, Progress Arsenyev Aviation Company, Kumertau Aviation Production Enterprise, Stupino Machine Production Plant, Reductor-PM, Helicopter Service Company (VSK).
Date modified:
01.09.2011