Leonardo strengthens helicopter support services in South Africa

Leonardo is strengthening the level of support and maintenance services offered to its customer base in South Africa with a new service centre following the recent acquisition of Precision Aviation Services (Pty) Ltd. This is located at Wonderboom Airport – Pretoria and comprises 2275 m2 of floor space, 450 m2 of workshop and store, and an equivalent amount of office space.

The site had been operating as an Authorized Service Centre for Leonardo’s helicopters in the country over the last 25 years and is the first Leonardo Excellent Service Centre in the Continent. ‘Excellent’ ranking is assigned to selected Service Centres focused on maintaining third party fleets and having the largest scope of service capabilities, all while guaranteeing the continued achievement of Leonardo’s customers stringent expectations and considering specific market requirements. The first area of further enhancement implemented by Leonardo compared to previous services will be the spare parts availability which will be further expanded.

The new service centre demonstrates Leonardo’s long-term commitment to the region and its customers, improving support to a fleet of more than 120 helicopters mainly operating in Sub-Saharan African civil market. This is in line with the Company’s Industrial Plan’s focus on stronger customer support services and proximity. The facility includes maintenance hangars, bonded warehouse, workshops and other services and provides maintenance, product support, engineering services while reinforcing spares availability for a range of models also including the AW119 single engine, AW109 light twin series, AW Family including the AW139, AW169 and AW189, with the possibility to extend these capabilities to future products.

Enhanced services will contribute to maximise the helicopter fleet mission effectiveness and safety of operations to the benefit of operators, crews and the served communities. With over 100 helicopter service and maintenance centres worldwide to date, Leonardo plans to establish at least one ‘Excellent’ centre in all strategic markets. During the Covid-19 pandemic emergency Leonardo has delivered continued support through its global network and leveraged digital technologies for remote maintenance services.