ER News: Leonardo and GDHF agree deal to supply 10 offshore AW189s

Leonardo and GDHF have agreed a deal to supply 10 AW189s.

Leonardo and GDHF have signed a deal to supply 10 AW189 offshore helicopters, with deliveries planned between 2027-2029, at the European Rotors event in Amsterdam.

Michael York, CEO, GDHF said the lessor was pleased to sign the framework agreement with Leonardo for 10 new AW189s after agreeing an initial three. “GDHF has now committed to a total of 13 AW189s, and earlier this year we successfully introduced the first of these AW189s into our fleet,” said York at the Amsterdam event. “This large 10 x AW189 framework agreement will further enhance GDHF’s ability to support our customers globally and provide them additional highly effective AW189 super-medium helicopters on lease.”

GDHF said the energy support market is expected to steadily increase over the next five years, driven by new field developments. These include both missions to support wind generation and offshore search and rescue (SAR).

Nearly 500 helicopters of various types are currently flying offshore transport transfer missions, Leonardo is the market leader for energy support, according to the lessor.

More than 90 AW189s have been delivered to operators worldwide. About 50 of these helicopters are used for offshore transport and have logged more than 155,000 flight hours in this market.

Meanwhile, read our interview with GDHF’s CEO just after the lessor’s launch last year. Speaking in April, York told us: GDHF’s market pitch extends beyond simply hardware and money. “It’s not just turning up with product – we are bringing our expertise and an agile entrepreneurial mindset. We are nimble and capable of being very flexible and providing solutions.”

The Leonardo and GDHF teams marked the deal at European Rotors.