Waypoint Leasing (Ireland) Limited (“Waypoint”), the largest independent global helicopter leasing company, today announced in partnership with Leonardo Company (“Leonardo”), the launch of a comprehensive maintenance and training services offering in support of Waypoint’s Medium Utility Helicopter (“MUH”) reconfiguration program.

The Waypoint MUH, a utility re-configured AW139, leverages the performance capabilities of the AW139 platform to serve a wide range of utility mission areas, including: firefighting, light EMS/SAR, mining, powerline support, cargo & utility transport, and general aerial work. With these added support services, the MUH program becomes a replacement opportunity for customers operating in the utility segment.

Allan Rowe, Managing Director of Sales & Relationship Management at Waypoint, said, “We are pleased to work together with Leonardo Helicopters and take advantage of the full AW139 lifecycle, which will greatly benefit utility operators. Waypoint’s MUH offers modern technology, the latest safety systems, and the superior performance of the AW139 at comparable costs to competing legacy utility aircraft. This program leverages the success of the existing AW139 platform with the opportunity to serve the global utility market segment.”

Emilio Dalmasso, Senior Vice President Global Sales at Leonardo Helicopters, said, “The best-in-class AW139 platform, with over two million flight hours to date, has proven itself capable of supporting a wide range of missions. Waypoint’s MUH program is an important example of how companies are thoughtfully expanding the lifecycle value of the AW139, while positioning it to meet the modern demands of utility operations. Our programs will be tailored to ensure cost competitiveness, and will include entry into service, training, and dedicated power-by-the-hour support plans.”

More information is available at waypointleasing.com/MUH. The aircraft will be on display at the Leonardo booth at HeliExpo in Las Vegas from February 27th. More information regarding the aircraft’s demonstration tour will be released in the next several weeks.

Since its inception in 2013, Waypoint has been active in supporting oil and gas, utility, firefighting and other industrial-focused helicopter operators. Waypoint’s portfolio includes more than 160 aircraft for 35 customers in 32 countries with total assets in excess of $1.6 billion. Additionally, Waypoint has firm and option orders with aircraft manufacturers for more than 85 helicopters valued at more than $1.1 billion, to be delivered over the next four years.