Story ID: 
Leonardo Helicopters Makes Fresh Latin American Inroads
By: Mark Huber
Caption: Leonardo Helicopters reports new AW139 and AW169 sales in Colombia, Mexico. 
Word Count: 215
Leonardo reported new inroads into the Latin American helicopter market this morning, announcing new sales in Mexico and Colombia.

The OEM will deliver a VIP-configured AW139 intermediate twin to the Colombian Air Force for its presidential transport mission. This helicopter will feature an eight-seat cabin and a self-defense suite. The delivery, anticipated this spring, will add to the embedded AW139 fleet in that country, where five AW139s already operate for Helistar in the oil and gas space.

Leonardo is currently offering a military variant of the AW139, the AW139M, for the multirole requirements of the air force, army, national police, and navy in Colombia. Orders for nearly 1,200 AW139s have been placed by more than 280 customers in over 70 countries and more than 2.9 million flight hours have been logged in operations to date. Worldwide, more than 1,100 AW139s have been delivered. 

Separately, Leonardo announced a Mexican private operator will place an AW169 light intermediate twin into service later this year. Nearly 240 AW169s have been ordered by customers worldwide to date for a wide range of civil, para-public, and military missions. 

Leonardo currently claims a 40 percent multiengine helicopter market share throughout Latin America with over 400 civil and military units in service throughout the region.