Three new AW109 Trekkers for Nigeria
The Nigerian Navy has acquired three new Leonardo AW109 Trekker helicopters, following a delivery on 12 November
The aircraft were purchased on behalf of the Navy by the Nigerian Ministry of Defence, and were handed over at a ceremony in Ikeja, Lagos.
The aircraft are currently in a VIP transport configuration, according to a report by Nigeria’s Punch newspaper.
However, they are also intended to be used for a range of other operations, such as aerial reconnaissance, search and rescue (SAR), and medical evacuation (medevac), and can be reconfigured for such missions.
They are equipped with skids to support such operations, offering them a better loading capacity than their wheeled counterparts.
The AW109 Trekker can carry two crewmembers and five passengers in standard configuration, and has a cruise speed of 274km/h, with a range of 828km, and a maximum endurance time of 4hrs 19mins.
The Nigerian government also announced plans last year to acquire a fleet of firefighting aircraft.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca was a Junior Editor at the Voyageur Group. He was previously a News and Features Journalist for the rail magazine IRJ until 2021, and studied MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. His favourite helicopter is the AW169 – the workhorse of the UK air ambulance sector! He also led the creation of Waypoint: The AirMed&Rescue podcast, serving as its Production Editor and co-host.