OREANDA-NEWS. UTair Aviation and AgustaWestland signed an agreement to establish a service center for AW139 helicopters in Russia. The deal was announced at the International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS.According to the agreement, UTair will operate an authorized service center providing a full range of support services and aircraft maintenance on its own technical base. UTair Aviation is the first commercial operator of AW139 helicopters in Russia.“The joint service center is a promising step indicating a larger vision for the exploitation of AW139 helicopters assembled in the Russian Federation in cooperation with Russian Helicopters,” said UTair-Engineering CEO Rashid Faradjaev. “UTair was selected by the manufacturer as its maintenance center because of UTair's experience in operating and conducting service operations on various types of helicopters.”AgustaWestland Chief Operating Officer Daniele Romiti expressed his satisfaction, saying, “We are very pleased to note the fact we're cooperating with UTair, one of the largest players on the global helicopter services market, to create the service center for AW139 helicopters.

UTair Aviation is the core enterprise of UTair Group, which includes both companies operating aerial vehicles (aircrafts and helicopters) and those carrying out repairs and technical maintenance, staff training and, flight service maintenance and air transport sales. The Group includes UTair-Express, UTair-Ukraine, UTair-Cargo, Turukhan, JSC Nefteyuganskiy, Vostok, Helisur, UTair Europe, UTair South Africa and UTair India as well as UTair-Technichs, UTair-Engineering and other enterprises. UTair Group headquarters are situated in Surgut. Subsidiaries are located in Surgut. The Group operates more than 240 fixed wing aircraft and more than 350 helicopters. In 2012 UTair Group aircraft transported 9,385,398 passengers, 24.3% more than in 2011. Passenger turnover of the Group increased 29.4% over 2011 and reached 16,072,900,200 pkm. The Group's rotor wing aircraft logged a total of 166,400 flight hours, a YoY increase of 19.2%.

AgustaWestland is an Italian helicopter manufacturer, a subsidiary of the Italian engineering holding Finmeccanica S.p.A. The company is engaged in helicopter manufacture and service support for private and public customers, providing technology for passenger transport, emergency services, law-enforcement agencies, representatives of oil, gas and other mining companies, and is committed to advancing transportation in harsh climatic conditions. AgustaWestland maintains production centers in Italy, the UK and the US and is developing a service center network in Russia. Recently, the Company completed the construction of an AW139 helicopter assembly plant in Tomilino in the Moscow region.