Lease Corporation International, the aviation division of the Libra Group, delivered a third new Leonardo AW169 helicopter to Elitaliana in Italy, fully equipped for emergency medical services (EMS) operations.

The helicopter will enter service with Elitaliana on a long term operating lease from LCI, and join two other AW169s delivered by LCI in 2016 and 2017, operating from Elitaliana’s EMS bases in Rome and the Lazio region.

Crispin Maunder, executive chairman of Lease Corporation International, said, “Elitaliana is a proven leader in helicopter operations in Italy, and we are delighted to be supporting their continued growth with the delivery of a third AW169 for their EMS fleet. This delivery to Elitaliana expands LCI’s presence in the Italian EMS market and reinforces our long-held strategy of developing a balanced and diverse portfolio, with the majority of our lease portfolio being concentrated on time critical markets.”

Elitaliana is Italy’s oldest helicopter company, having been founded in 1964, and has developed operational experience in a wide range of areas including EMS, offshore helicopter transport, environmental monitoring, forest fire fighting, and search and rescue.

Manfred de Windisch Graetz of Elitaliana, said, “We have enjoyed a close collaboration with LCI Helicopters over the past years as Elitaliana continues to refresh our EMS operations. LCI’s detailed product knowledge and customer attention has been of considerable benefit to us, and we look forward to further cooperation in the years to come.”

LCI’s fleet is comprised of approximately $750 million of assets in service and on order.