26 March, 2019: Malaysia Fire and Rescue Department (Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat Malaysia) and Korea’s Seoul Fire Department is all set to begin operations with their newly added Leonardo AW189 helicopters. They will soon be followed by the Tokyo Fire Department.
Leonardo has been widening its reach across the Asia Pacific region. Their aircraft’ are being used for public utility operations such as search and rescue, firefighting, and disaster relief. The AW139, AW169 and AW189 helicopters join an already impressive fleet of Leonardo helicopters across countries in the region with Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and Australia.
Leonardo plays an important role in the Malaysian helicopter market as they have been expanding their presence and increasing their capabilities through a continued plan of investment. They have a regional hub for Customer Support and Training near Kuala Lumpur. They have been present in the region for many years with hundreds of helicopters performing missions such as offshore and passenger transport, utility, law enforcement, homeland security, emergency medical services, search and rescue, maritime patrol, military naval roles and armed reconnaissance. Leonardo has also been providing a range of security and defence capabilities to the Malaysian government and products, such as air traffic control systems to commercial customers.