Weststar of Malaysia signs for three AgustaWestland helicopters
AgustaWestland and Weststar signing at LIMA 2015
Weststar General Aviation signed a contract with AgustaWestland for three helicopters – one AW119Kx, one GrandNew and one AW169 – at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) Exhibition 2015.
The contract was signed by Emilio Dalmasso, SVP commercial business unit of AgustaWestland, and Y.Bhg. Tan Sri Syed Azman Syed Ibrahim, managing director of Weststar Group.
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The Weststar Group will now start operating AgustaWestland helicopters for executive/corporate transport services through its subsidiary Weststar General Aviation Sdn Bhd.
This contract brings the total number of AgustaWestland helicopters that will be operated by the Weststar Group to 40.
“The helicopter charter services market is growing, both in applications and the demand for certain types of helicopters.”
Tan Sri Syed Azman said: “We are seeing a new demand trend taking shape at the top of the business aviation supply chain. The helicopter charter services market is growing, both in applications and the demand for certain types of helicopters.”
“While Weststar General Aviation is continuing on a strong growth path, we want to double our current footprint in the charter services market, added Syed Azman. “This is an enlightened initiative to boost our market share. Our diverse and expansive fleet composition in itself is an innovation to our services.”
Weststar General Aviation’s sister company, Weststar Aviation Services operates successfully in the oil and gas offshore helicopter transportation industry.
Azman said: “Currently, in the corporate transportation market segment, these types of aircraft are in high demand. It is a timely expansion for us. We want to offer depth in the selection of our charter aircraft to cater to every need, application and mission. With this purchase, it will help us to break ground on new markets as we plan to take our services regionally.”
Weststar is the first operator in Asia of the AW189 helicopter that can carry up to 19 passengers.
The company has been operating the AW139 in support of the oil and gas industry in Malaysia since April 2011 and more recently in Thailand and several African nations.
