Leonardo (Booth 11454) has signed a four-ship, AW609 civil tiltrotor deal with an undisclosed, long-established European operator of its helicopters, the Italian aerospace giant announced Tuesday morning at Heli-Expo 2022. The customer plans to carry out a range of passenger transport missions supporting its point-to-point operations worldwide and its tiltrotors thus will have different dedicated configurations, including VIP/corporate and passenger/utility transport. Leonardo did not release a value of the order but AIN estimates it could be worth $100 million.
“We’re convinced, more than ever, that the AW609 will truly revolutionize point-to-point connections and other air operations, providing a major contribution as the use of airspace evolves further,” said Leonardo Helicopters managing director Gian Piero Cutillo.
The first production AW609 recently began ground testing in Philadelphia and the second is currently being assembled there. To date, the program has logged more than 1,700 flight hours in the U.S. and Italy. Support and training packages primarily will be offered through the company’s new training academy in Philadelphia that opened last year. It includes the first AW609 full-flight simulator.
According to Cutillo, Leonardo hoped to complete AW609 certification activities this year and make its first customer delivery in 2023. While declining to reveal the current size of the order book for the aircraft, he said the company “had some orders” and that the aircraft had generated renewed market interest following the deployment of the fourth test aircraft on a promotional tour to Expo 2020 Dubai late last year.