Falcon Aviation, one of the UAE’s
leading aviation companies specialising in business aviation services, charter
and aircraft management, confirmed 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,”
said Falcon Aviation COO Captain Raman
Oberoi. “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,” he added.
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Falcon Aviation's
Leonardo AW169 |
MRO expansion into Kuwait
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. |