News MRO
HeliService in Germany appointed Leonardo Excellent Service Centre

Leonardo strengthened its support and maintenance services in Germany and Europe through the appointment of HeliService international GmbH as an Excellent Service Centre. Leonardo explains the ‘Excellent’ ranking is assigned to selected Service Centres focused on maintaining third-party fleets with the largest scope of service capabilities.

With this appointment, HeliService will be able to deliver the highest level of service for the Leonardo AW109 light twin series, AW169 light intermediate, and AW139 intermediate twin types.

HeliService has been operating AW139s and AW169s for offshore wind farm support missions in the North Sea over the last few years, with ongoing expansion in Asia and the United States, where three new AW169s will be operated starting from summer 2023.

“[HeliService’s] expertise in operating our helicopters in the demanding conditions of maritime and offshore wind farm environments makes HeliService an even stronger supplier of quality support and maintenance to maximise mission effectiveness and safety, combined with the best aircraft and fleet management planning and efficiency,” said Vittorio Della Bella, SVP Customer Support & Training Worldwide Services at Leonardo Helicopters.

With more than 110 helicopter service and maintenance centres worldwide to date, Leonardo plans to establish at least one ‘Excellent’ centre in all of its strategic markets. The recent appointment of HeliService raises the number of service centres ranked ‘Excellent’ to six, including four in Europe, one in the U.S., and one in Japan, in addition to those managed by Leonardo.

“To be only one of six Leonardo Excellent Service Centres worldwide is a great confirmation of the quality of our work,” said Roy Hurrel, Head of Maintenance, Munich/ Oberpfaffenhofen, for HeliService. “Being part of this team fills me with pride.”

Established in 1987, HeliService delivers rescue service, aviation school, passenger and cargo transports, training for offshore service-personnel, and acts as a maintenance organization. HeliService has established a core competence in offshore aviation by transporting personnel and cargo to and from wind farms, research and construction vessels as well as transporting injured personnel. Unique specialties include helicopter hoist operations (HHO) directly onto offshore wind turbines.

HeliService flight operations are currently performed from Emden, Bremerhaven, Husum (all Germany) and project based from Esbjerg, Denmark. HeliService’s helicopters will also support wind farm operations from Taiwan and, as mentioned earlier, from U.S. starting in Summer 2023.