Turkey to get first GrandNew helicopter for VIP transport

Operatior, Genel Havacilik placed an order for the craft at the EBACE show in Geneva. It   will be used to perform VIP transport missions and it is expected to be delivered by the end of next month.

Emilio Dalmasso, AgustaWestland’s senior vice president said: “The entrance of the GrandNew in this relevant market provides clear evidence of the competitiveness of our state-of-the-art product range which has found a rapidly increasing success in Turkey. Thanks to the GrandNew’s unparalleled features Genel Havacilik will achieve impressive levels of operational capability and effectiveness second to none in the light twin class.”  

Ali Sulyak , CEO of Genel Havacilik, said ”The entire range of AgustaWestland products shares a common dedication to best quality and reliability standards as well as the best performance today available. So it is small wonder we selected the GrandNew as the aircraft of choice in its class to satisfy our requirements to operate in the most demanding hot and high conditions of Turkey and cover the long distances of Turkey with extended range and high cruise speed. Thanks to its cutting edge technology this type will allow us to perform a leap forward to even enhance our operations.”

The GrandNew features the most modern developments in avionics while retaining the Grand’s outstanding performance and features. The GrandNew is the first type certified light twin (CS/JAR/FAR 27) to enter service with a new EFIS featuring Synthetic Vision and the first helicopter in this class on the market fully compliant with the latest advanced global positioning system-based navigation requirements for all weather operations. The GrandNew offers operators unprecedented abilities to exploit the advantages of a helicopter. GrandNew has achieved great success around the world with orders for over 70 units being placed for various commercial applications. Orders for over 300 helicopters from the Grand series have been placed by almost 180 customers in nearly 40 countries worldwide, in order to perform many tasks including VIP/corporate transport, passenger transport, EMS, SAR, harbour pilot shuttle, ENG, maritime patrol and water pollution monitoring.

AgustaWestland has a longstanding presence in Turkey through both its products and commercial as well as industrial relationships with Turkish companies. Over 30 AgustaWestland commercial helicopters of different types have been ordered in Turkey by various customers so far mainly performing executive transport, air tours and emergency medical service missions. Major results in the commercial helicopter market have been achieved for VIP/corporate transport and EMS applications. AgustaWestland is committed to even better supporting its expanding and already relevant presence in Turkey where AgustaWestland sees significant future business opportunities for a number of applications including VIP/corporate transport, EMS, shuttle services.

Genel Havacilik has been operating for more than 20 years and boasts an extensive fleet of business aircraft operated from bases in Turkey and the Middle East. A broad range of services and technical capabilities include aircraft operation, maintenance, FBO services and consultancy in aircraft purchases.