DOHA: Gulf International Services (GIS), the largest service group in Qatar, with interest in a broad cross-section of industries, has announced the delivery of the first two AW189 super medium helicopters in offshore configuration to its wholly-owned subsidiary, Gulf Helicopters. Gulf Helicopters has a total of 15 AW189s on order and the delivery of the whole batch of aircraft is now scheduled to be completed by 2017.
Gulf Helicopters, already a major AW139 operator, becomes the first customer in the Middle East to introduce the AgstaWestland Family concept into operational service, the GIS said in a mandatory filing to Qatar Exchange. Gulf Helicopters was also established as an AgustaWestland Authorised Training Centre for the AW139 and AW189 in September 2013 and ordered the first AW189 Full Flight Simulator (FFS) in the region in February 2014.
Mohammed Al Mohannadi, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Helicopters said, “I am delighted to strengthen our relationship with AgustaWestland and our recent acceptance of delivery of our first two AW189 is based not only on our marketing strategy for the future of the company’s expansion, but also on our customers’ requests for such a helicopter size. Our AW189s are already committed for one of our major clients. Gulf Helicopters has obtained bank loans with very competitive interest rate from local banks.”
“These two deliveries are in line with Gulf Helicopter’s expansion plans, and specially cater to contracting with international oil companies outside of Qatar, which is expected to increase the company’s revenue and profitability. Gulf Helicopters, being one of the largest helicopter operators in the Middle East, is also building on our training capabilities in general and is also developing further as an AgustaWestland Training Centre and a Regional Hub, in particular,” he said.
The AW189 was designed in response to growing market demand for a versatile, affordable, multirole super medium class helicopter. The new 8.3 tonne, twin engine helicopter is optimised for long range offshore transport and SAR missions and has already received over 130 orders, including options and framework agreements, in more than 10 countries from 15 customers, making it the outright market leader in its class.
Gulf Helicopters has provided helicopter services since 1970 and operates with companies throughout the Middle east, India and North Africa. Gulf Helicopters has its own in-house maintenance facility with a team of highly qualified and experienced engineers undertaking fleet maintenance and modification work.
The Peninsula
