At EUROPEAN ROTORS, Leonardo and Bristow are celebrating an outstanding milestone carrying out operations with Leonardo helicopters now exceeding 500,000 flight hours logged by the Bristow’s fleet, more than 300,000 of them with the market leader AW139.
Leonardo and Bristow have been partners for over 25 years with Bristow using a range of types, including the AW119 single-engine, AW109 light twin, AW139 intermediate twin and AW189 super medium. Bristow’s fleet of Leonardo helicopters accounts for over 90 units today. These helicopters have accomplished missions in offshore transport supporting the energy industry, search and rescue and emergency medical service across several geographies, including North and Latin America, Europe, Africa and Australasia.
Combining AW139s and AW189s, Bristow has been one of the world’s first operators leveraging the unique advantages of the Leonardo’s AW family concept with unprecedented fleet management benefits – cost-effectiveness, flexibility, ease of maintenance and training to maximise mission effectiveness and safety through a range of commonalities shared between the two types (latest certification and safety standards, support approach and tools, a range of components, training solutions). Bristow will also introduce the AW609 tiltrotor in the future, taking a further step forward in operational capabilities and innovation.
Gian Piero Cutillo, Leonardo Helicopters MD, said: “Providing our contribution to make sure our partners can maximise the benefits of using our technology and receiving our services leading to amazing operational results is the best reward for us. We’re excited to celebrate this important moment with Bristow, particularly after the challenging pandemic time we’ve been facing, when we have joined forces to guarantee the level of service expected to respond to the requirements of end-users and the served communities globally, either connecting mainland and rigs offshore or saving lives. We look forward to reaching one million flight hours!”
