AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, attends FIDAE 2014 showing an Italian Air Force AW139M intermediate twin and a single engine AW119Ke for firefighting applications operated by FAASA, thus showcasing both military and parapublic capabilities. The company has a longstanding and well established presence in South America with the sale of hundreds of helicopters for both civil and government applications in a number of countries. Over 250 commercial units have been sold so far in the region with Brazil and Chile being key markets with helicopters in service for various roles.

AgustaWestland boasts a leading presence in the South American VIP/corporate market, particularly in Brazil, especially via its light twin range of products with the Grand/GrandNew model become the benchmark with over 100 units sold in Central and South America, meaning more than 30% of all the Grand/GrandNew aircraft on order worldwide. The AW119Kx single engine, thanks to its outstanding performance and cabin space, has proven perfectly suited for parapublic roles. As the world best-selling medium twin and the sole new generation helicopter in its category, the AW139 has found growing success in the region, particularly for offshore transport missions.

In the military sector, the Brazilian Navy operates the Lynx Mk.21 for multirole and anti-surface warfare. The presence of AgustaWestland in Chile has rapidly grown for both government and commercial duties. Carabineros de Chile operate five AW109 Power light twins for a range of law enforcement tasks. For firefighting missions the AW119Ke single engine and the W-3A Sokol 6.4 ton twin engine helicopter are providing effective support but Chile is also demonstrating increasingly interest in VIP/corporate transport helicopters.

AgustaWestland do Brasil, an AgustaWestland company, supports the Brazilian and South America’s fleet with a comprehensive package of maintenance services through its Service Centre in Sao Paulo. In addition, a number of independent maintenance centres, certified by the Authority, and AgustaWestland Authorized Service Centers, such as Helipark and Lider, operate in the country. AgustaWestland do Brasil is to undergo a major expansion with the building of a new facility in Sao Paulo. The new facility is designed to cope with the expected introduction of significant numbers of new AW189 and AW169 helicopters into the Brazilian market. In Chile, Aviasur is an appointed distributor in Chile and Peru and operator of an AgustaWestland Service Centre, operating AW119Kx and GrandNew helicopters.

With an ever expanding product portfolio, AgustaWestland sees further significant business opportunities in South America for its range of solutions. The all new AW169 4.5 ton class, whose certification is expected at the end of 2014, and AW189 8.3 ton, certified a few weeks ago, have further enhanced AgustaWestland’s capability to meet the latest demand in the world market. AgustaWestland is in fact the only helicopter manufacturer able to offer operators a family of next generation helicopters spanning the 4.5 to 8 tonne weight range. The AW169, AW139 and AW189 share the same design philosophy, safety features, maintenance concept and common cockpit design, all of which will deliver reduced through life costs for the operator of more than one type.

As far as military requirements is concerned, AgustaWestland is able to offer the most suitable products for the task, be it homeland security duties, light utility helicopter and naval roles-dedicated helicopters.