Leonardo's AW09 helicopter mockup is on-site at LABACE after a tour of Brazil. When the prior mockup appeared at LABACE 2019, it was called the SH09, the OEM was Kopter, and it was shown by exclusive distributor Gualter Helicópteros. Since then, Leonardo has bought Kopter and rebaptized and upgraded the single-engine helicopter. Gualter, meanwhile, has become a Leonardo distributor and has already secured 20 delivery positions while selling at least five AW09s in Brazil.
The new model's last pre-LABACE stop was a cocktail hour Thursday evening at São Paulo heliport Helipark. Not only is this mockup more representative of the actual helicopter, but the AW09 itself is closer to reality, with its fourth prototype performing test flights in Mollis, Switzerland, in preparation for EASA certification. A fifth prototype is being developed for FAA certification, and both approvals are expected in the second half of 2024.
The Gualter Factor
Gualter is known formally as Aero Service Representação and for years at LABACE has hosted a virtual used-helicopter lot presided over by owner Gualter Pizzi. Last year, the lot was reduced to a single aircraft, but this was because the heated market meant that he’d already sold everything he could lay his hands on. This year, Gualter is exhibiting along with Leonardo and working with the OEM to gain customers in Brazil and to develop the support network essential to retain them. Deliveries of the AW09 are expected to start in the second half of 2025 for the VFR version and in 2026 for the IFR version.
Among Leonardo's improvements to the aircraft are upgrading the engine with the latest-generation Safran Arriel 2K and Garmin G3000 avionics with four-axis autopilot.
The AW09 is positioned as a multi-mission machine, suitable for business, police, aeromedical, and other uses. The AW09 can carry eight passengers in addition to the pilot.
The first sales in Brazil were to aeromedical customers such as Ambipar Response Flyone, as well as air taxi firms. Having a single engine makes the helicopter lighter, and this makes it possible to land in more restricted areas. It also has tail entry doors, making it more versatile, especially for medical stretchers.
“Another advantage of this helicopter for police and for air taxis, which also fly a lot,” Pizzi said, “is that its first scheduled maintenance occurs only after 300 hours of flight, against 100 hours for competitors. This reduces the operating cost of the helicopter and increases its availability.”
Leonardo’s maintenance center in Itapevi is prepared to service all Leonardo models operating in Brazil at all levels of maintenance and, according to Gualter, Leonardo will develop an outsourced service network in the city itself or near customers’ bases of operation. The company is already talking to service centers that could be partners in this fleet support network, both performing maintenance and stocking spare parts. “We've been working on this for a year now,” he said. “We know that having excellent products without support is no use.” The states of Maranhão in the northeast, Santa Catarina in the south, and the Central West region are among the places where conversations are more advanced, due to initial sales.
As for training, Gualter said that Leonardo is already developing a simple but functional simulator, and he had the opportunity to see it in Italy. Plans call for Brazil to have a simulator to serve the entire range of AW109 models, from the Power to the Grand New, including the Koala and the AW09. “This is being studied but will probably be through a partnership and in São Paulo,” Gualter said.
Pizzi also considers as a selling point that the helicopter is manufactured of 100 percent composite materials. Such materials are especially advantageous along the vast Brazilian coast, which—while home to much of the population and much demand—is prone to greater corrosion and operational maintenance costs. The corrosion is alleviated by the use of composites.
Country Tour
The AW09’s official launch in Brazil, including the mockup, took place in March at Catarina Executive Airport outside São Paulo. The tour then stopped at Costa Esmeralda Aeronautical Condominium in Santa Catarina at the end of July, then at Helipark last week, and now at LABACE.
Gualter assesses the helicopter market in Brazil this year as calmer. Before the inauguration of President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva in January, the market was analyzing the new government and customers were postponing decisions. The stability of the U.S. dollar has been a good sign, and Pizzi said that “the second semester is always a little warmer than the first.” Optimistic, he notes that the market lacked a new product like the AW09.
The AW09 is the first completely new helicopter produced by Leonardo after the certification of the AW139, AW169, and AW189 families, and the Trekker was the last version of the AW109 series. “We are happy with the success that the market is already giving to this machine,” said Leonardo sales manager Giuseppe Mignoli.