Falcon Aviation, one of the UAE’s leading aviation companies specializing in business aviation services, charter and aircraft management, confirmed Wednesday at the Kuwait Aviation Show that three new Leonardo AW169 helicopters (signed for at the recent Dubai Airshow) will be deployed on a five-year contract with The Kuwait Oil Company (KOC). The helicopters will perform onshore and offshore Oil & Gas operations.
With this debut in Kuwait, marks a significant expansion for Falcon Aviation, which will be adding additional personnel in Kuwait, including offshore pilots and supportive administration personnel, plus line and base engineers to start the contract. The first two AW169s will arrive in March and the third in April 2018.
Emilio Dalmasso, SVP Commercial Business Unit, Leonardo Helicopters said: “We congratulate Falcon Aviation Services on this major achievement and are proud to contribute with additional AW169s to meet the operational requirement. The new contract builds on our successful 10-year partnership including Falcon’s commitment as launch customer of the AW169 in the Middle East. We are convinced the Kuwait Oil Company will significantly benefit from the capabilities, versatility and safety of this new generation helicopter, along with the great service and operational expertise of Falcon Aviation.”
“This is a significant strategic contract for us, it was a strong international competition and fortunately we won the contract, which takes us into Kuwait for the first time. We see a unique opportunity to provide safe and reliable services to KOC. We will work together to build a sustainable oil & gas aviation support services increase efficiency and productivity,” said Falcon Aviation COO Captain Raman Oberoi.
Falcon Aviation will establish all the required infrastructure, including the building of a brand new hangar to house the three Leonardo AW169s and create facilities to carry out line and base maintenance on the type.
“The KOC contract specified two helicopters, but Falcon Aviation added a third helicopter as backup to provide continuous services,” noted Nicolas Tejera, Director of Maintenance, who is expanding Falcon Aviation’s rotary MRO team, by recruiting helicopter engineers for the project.
“It is an honor to win this contract and we are excited to be entering into this new project in the new territory of Kuwait with Leonardo. We know and understand the aircraft well and have enjoyed excellent customer satisfaction with the AW169 since introducing the type with TOTAL in ABK Field, UAE in January 2016,” he added.
Falcon Aviation is the lead aircraft operator of the AW169 worldwide and confident of its suitability to provide reliable services to KOC for its offshore and onshore requirements.
The AW169 is a modern, multi mission twin-engine class A performance helicopter, renowned for its superior performance and safety standards and featuring 8/10-seat passenger layout.
Founded in 2006, Falcon Aviation is based at Al Bateen Executive Airport, the premier VIP airport in the UAE, within Abu Dhabi City.
Falcon Aviation operates 11 strong fixed wing fleet including one Embraer Legacy 600, one Lineage 1000, three Gulfstream G450/G550s and six Bombardier Q400 turboprops. Three of the six Q400s are currently leased to Qazaq Air in Kazakhstan. Falcon Aviation also operates a variety of helicopters consisting of - 10 Bell 412EPs; four Airbus Helicopters EC130B4s; four AW109S/SPs, two AW189s and two AW169s.
Falcon Aviation is a founding member of the Middle East Business Aviation Association (MEBAA) and an authorized service centre for Embraer Executive Jets and warranty service centre for Gulfstream. The MRO is also providing services for Bombardier, Gulfstream, Leonardo, Pilatus, Airbus and Bell helicopters.
