AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, and Heliconia Aero Solutions, the flagship Company of Heliconia Group in Morocco, announced the signing of a Distributorship Agreement for AgustaWestland helicopters models in Morocco.

Both companies also announced that Heliconia has placed a first order for two AW139 intermediate twin helicopters, plus a number of options, to perform offshore transport missions in Morocco.

Pending delivery of the two helicopters, set for June/July this year, Heliconia has meanwhile started its offshore transportation missions with two AW139s leased from Agusta Westland since end February 2014. The dual announcement was made during the Marrakesh Air Show today by the Partners. 

Emilio Dalmasso, AgustaWestland Senior Vice President Commercial Business Unit, said: “This distribution agreement for our world class helicopters with such a leading partner in Morocco, as well as the introduction of the AW139 type into the growing offshore market in Morocco, marks a major event for the future of helicopter operations in the regional commercial market. We are confident that this is the beginning of a fruitful collaboration in a market which offers significant potential in the Oil & Gas industry and EMS services.”

Daniel Sigaud, President of Heliconia, said: “This is a major milestone development for Heliconia, but also for Morocco as it will bring into the Moroccan market a new generation of aircrafts, which have proved over the last five years to have a major impact on Oil and Gas Offshore activities worldwide, at a time when very substantial investments are being earmarked to explore Moroccan territorial waters.”

“Heliconia has had to beef up very substantially its internal structures and procedures, to secure required Authorizations and Permits from the Morocco Civil Aviation Authorities, and match up the high technology requirements of this new generation of aircrafts. It will also permit Heliconia to extend its activities in Africa in the future,” Sigaud added.

Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco has placed an order for an AW139 intermediate twin aircraft, further expanding its fleet of AW139 helicopters and confirming its confidence in the best selling model in its category. This latest AW139 will be used to perform offshore and VIP transport operations in Saudi Arabia.  

Thanks to its unmatched versatility, performance, reliability, safety and mission capability, the AW139 has received an outstanding success in the Middle East, with more than 130 units sold to a number of customers to perform the widest scope of commercial and government operations including offshore transport, VIP transport, SAR/EMS, utility, troop transport, patrol, law enforcement and homeland security.