The Irish Minister of State at the Department of Transport, with responsibility for the Coast Guard, James Lawless, Thursday (29th August) welcomed the arrival into Weston Airport of the first AW189 helicopter in the Irish Coast Guard’s new aircraft fleet. The full fleet will comprise six AW189 helicopters, five of which will be newly-built, along with two fixed-wing aircraft. The helicopters will be stationed at Weston (Dublin), Sligo, Waterford and Shannon, providing day and night, year-round availability. The Fixed Wing aircraft service will be located in Shannon. The fleet will enable the Irish Coast Guard to continue to provide world-class maritime, coastal and inland Search and Rescue services, which have saved the lives of over 300 people in 2024 alone. The aircraft fleet will also be used for environmental monitoring, and for other essential services including helicopter emergency medical and Air Ambulance Services on behalf of the HSE and National Ambulance Service.
Director of Bristow Ireland, Philip Bartlett, said: “It’s great to see this helicopter here at its new home in Ireland. The scheduled process for introducing the new SAR service for the Irish Coast Guard is now well under way. We will be phasing in new equipment and new technology to this trusted, life-saving service throughout the transition period.”
Welcoming the arrival, Minister Lawless said: “This is an exciting milestone in the introduction of the new aviation service of the Irish Coast Guard. This fleet will enhance the Coast Guard’s capability to deliver a world class Search and Rescue and maritime environment monitoring services, along with the essential aviation support service they provide to other State organisations including the National Ambulance Service, An Garda Síochána, and National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Services. Coast Guard personnel are incredibly committed to assisting the public, sometimes in extremely challenging situations. This new fleet ensures that the highest standards of safety and professionalism continue to be met, as they carry out their life-saving work.”
The aircraft service will be operated by Bristow Ireland Limited under a ten-year contract which will become fully operational in July 2025. Both the helicopters and Fixed Wing aircraft feature a new Coast Guard livery. In the coming weeks, Search and Rescue providers including Coast Guard Volunteers, RNLI, Community Inshore Rescue and Mountain Rescue teams will work with the new helicopter, conducting exercises that replicate everyday search and rescue activities. Transition from the existing contract is scheduled to commence on 31st October 2024, when Bristow will assume responsibility for Shannon-based operations. The intervening time will be used for training and conducting familiarisation exercises before it is put into active service. Three other bases (Sligo, Waterford, and Dublin Weston) will transition to the new contracted service on a phased basis between now and July 2025.
The AW189 is a twin-engined, super-medium-lift helicopter manufactured by Leonardo S.p.A. It is derived from the AW149, and shares similarities with the AW139 and AW169. The AW189 is a medium-sized twin-engined helicopter with a five-bladed fully articulated main rotor, a four-bladed tail rotor and a retractable tricycle landing gear. It is powered by two General Electric CT7-2E1 turboshaft engines. Leonardo refer to the AW189 as being a “super-medium class” helicopter, emphasizing its suitability for long-range operations. During development, the AW189 was designed to comply with the latest international regulatory safety requirements EASA/FAA Part 29, JAR OPS 3/EU-OPS. Of particular importance to the type’s use for offshore operations, such as search and rescue and services to the oil and gas industries, the main gearbox has been designed to provide for a 50-minute run-dry capacity, in excess of requirements and a unique feature to the AW189. The technical specifications of the AW189 fully meet and, indeed, exceed the requirements for the full range of aviation taskings operated by the Irish Coast Guard.
