Dallas, 11 March 2025 - At Verticon 2025 (Dallas, TX, 11-13 March) Leonardo and Petroleum Air Services (PAS) announced a further reinforcement of their collaboration to deliver effective and safe helicopter operations supporting the energy industry in Egypt. PAS signed to procure five AW169 light intermediate twin engine 4.8t helicopters with skid undercarriage. These aircraft are expected to be delivered starting in the third quarter of 2026 or earlier and will carry out offshore transport, crew change and emergency response missions from the eastern desert region.
This order, which marks the entrance of the skidded variant of the type into the energy market, is a strategic move for PAS and is part of its ongoing commitment to modernizing its current helicopter fleet with more advanced models that meet the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers requirements (IOGP), as the operator aims at expanding its offshore transport activities and exploration in the Eastern area of the Mediterranean Sea.
PAS will benefit from the outstanding characteristics of the latest generation AW169 helicopters in terms of navigation and mission avionics, cabin space, APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) mode - ensuring full functioning of critical onboard systems and devices when the rotors are stopped on ground allowing greater safety and lower emissions/noise. The AW169 is an essential enabler to perform more sustainable, more effective, safer energy support missions with high versatility and according to the latest industry standards in the market.
Also, as an established AW139 operator in the region since 2009 with a fleet today including eight aircraft used for passenger and offshore transport, PAS will also benefit from the unique advantages of the AW Family concept through the shared design, certification standard, support and training approach adopted for both the AW139 and AW169 models.
"We are interested to partner with Leonardo to acquire the AW169 as part of our fleet modernization strategy," said Gen Ehab Abdelmaksoud, CH & MD of Petroleum Air Services. "These advanced helicopters will not only replace older models but also enhance our ability to meet the rigorous demands of offshore operations, ensuring the highest level of safety for our clients."
In late 2024 PAS also became an Authorized Service Centre for Leonardo’s commercial helicopter products, obtaining an even higher rank in technical support allowing to add more services, greater spare parts management and more solutions to the benefit of third-party customers and users.
About Petroleum Air Services
Petroleum Air Services is an Egyptian joint stock company. The shareholders are Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and Bristow Group. The company provides air services transportation inside and outside Egypt using helicopter and fixed wing aircraft for the oil and gas sector, tourism and other economic entities. Also charter and scheduled flights, Air taxi, Maintenance & washing electric insulators by helicopter. The current fleet has 31 helicopters and 8 fixed wing aircraft. The company plans to expand its helicopter fleet in the near future to fulfil the demands of the current and new customers who obtained new concession rights in Egypt for offshore activities either in the Red Sea or Mediterranean. Petroleum Air Services is servicing the companies from different bases all around Egypt in Red Sea, Mediterranean and South Sinai. All service facilities in different bases have been upgraded to meet the highest safety international standards.
Leonardo is an international industrial group, among the main global companies in Aerospace, Defence, and Security (AD&S). With 53,000 employees worldwide, the company approaches global security through the Helicopters, Electronics, Aircraft, Cyber & Security and Space sectors, and is a partner on the most important international programmes, within these sectors, such as Eurofighter, NH-90, FREMM, GCAP, and Eurodrone. Leonardo has significant production capabilities in Italy, the UK, Poland, and the USA. Leonardo utilises its subsidiaries, joint ventures, and shareholdings, which include Leonardo DRS (72.3%), MBDA (25%), ATR (50% ), Hensoldt (22.8%), Telespazio (67%), Thales Alenia Space (33%), and Avio (29.6%). Listed on the Milan Stock Exchange (LDO), in 2023 Leonardo recorded new orders for €17.9 billion, with an order book of €39.5 billion and consolidated revenues of €15.3 billion. ncluded in the MIB ESG index, the company has also been part of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) since 2010.
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