AgustaWestland announced that it will showcase its range of military and commercial helicopters at Aero India 2013, which is being held at Air Force Station Yelahanka, Bengaluru, from 6th to 10th February. Helicopters being promoted at Aero India include the AW101. Other helicopters to be featured include the AW109LUH light twin-engine military helicopter, AW139 12-15 passenger medium-twin engine helicopter and the naval variant of the NH90 helicopter.

Geoff Hoon, managing director international business, AgustaWestland said “India is an important and growing market for AgustaWestland, so at Aero India we are promoting the most modern and capable rotorcraft available today, confident that we can build on our past successes and fulfil the future requirements of both the Indian armed forces and commercial customers.”

He added “We will also be using Aero India to help pursue our strategy to expand and develop our relationships with Indian companies to ensure we are a part of India’s growing aerospace industry. Indian Rotorcraft Limited, our joint venture with Tata Sons, is a prime example of this strategy and our long term commitment to India.”

Military Rotorcraft

AgustaWestland has a range of maritime helicopters ranging from the three-tonne AW109 right up to the 16-tonne AW101. At 11-tonnes, AgustaWestland is offering the naval variant of the NH90 to the Indian Navy. The NH90 has orders for 529 units to equip and modernize 19 services in 14 countries including the Armed Forces of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Greece, Oman, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Belgium. Of those 529 firm orders over 100 are for the NFH naval variant for the navies of Italy, France, Norway and The Netherlands.

Commercial Rotorcraft

Sales of AgustaWestland civil product range have taken-off with orders being placed for nearly 50 aircraft including additional AW109 Powers, the AW119Ke and the AW139 medium twin-engine helicopter.

AgustaWestland will certify two all new twin-engine commercial helicopters, the AW189 and AW169, in 2013 and 2014 respectively, along with the service of AW139.

AgustaWestland has appointed OSS Air and AirWorks as authorized service centres for its commercial helicopters in India. These companies provide a range of maintenance, spares, technical support and training services in India.

Indian Rotorcraft

In 2010 AgustaWestland signed a joint venture agreement with Tata Sons Ltd for the final assembly, completion and delivery of AW119 commercial helicopters.  This company, Indian Rotorcraft Ltd., will produce the aircraft in Hyderabad.

The 8,000 m2 facility is being built on a 10 acre site adjacent to the Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and includes a main assembly building, flight hangar, office accommodation and outside helicopter landing pads. The facility will be capable of producing up to 30 helicopters per year and will be able to accommodate a variety of helicopter types, including the AW101. Final assembly of aircraft is scheduled to start in early 2014.

Local Presence

AgustaWestland’s wholly owned subsidiary company, AgustaWestland India Pvt Ltd, is based in Delhi to co-ordinate the company’s business activities in India. It also has a branch in Cochin that provides technical support to the Indian Navy’s Sea King helicopters.