Leonardo-Finmeccanica, Russian Helicopters and Russian oil company Rosneft have signed an agreement for the sale of 20 more AW189 super-medium twins to Rosneft subsidiary RN Aircraft, the companies announced on Friday. Deliveries are expected to start in 2018 with three aircraft assembled in Italy, followed by 17 more assembled at the HeliVert joint venture’s plant in Tomilino, near Moscow. Helivert has been assembling the smaller AW139 medium twin for the Russian and CIS markets since 2012.
This adds to a previously announced 2015 order from RN Aircraft for 10 AW189s. Nearly 30 AW189s have been delivered and 150 are on order worldwide. The 18,298 lb mtow AW189 is powered by a pair of General Electric CT7-2E1 turboshafts (2,000 shp), seats up to 19 passengers and has a maximum range of 490 nm. In an already defined agreement signed in 2014 that included Russian Helicopters, Rosneft plans to order up to 160 AgustaWestland helicopters by 2025 from the HeliVert joint venture. HeliVert was restructured last year with shares distributed 40 percent to Leonardo Helicopters, 30 percent to Russian Helicopters and 30 percent to Rosneft.