The Malaysia Fire and Rescue Department (Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat Malaysia) and South Korea’s Seoul Fire Department have recently commenced operations with their AW189s, and will soon be joined in flying Leonardo's super medium rotorcraft by the Tokyo Fire Department.

Leonardo believes that the Asia Pacific region has the strongest growth prospects for its aerospace and defence capabilities. In the helicopter sector, public utility operations such as firefighting, SAR and disaster relief capabilities are quickly growing and the OEM is targeting these requirements with the AW139, AW169 and AW189 helicopters. Besides Malaysia and South Korea, operators in Japan and Australia are already operating Leonardo types.

Leonardo claims to be the world’s number one civil helicopter manufacturer in terms of value in 2018 with a 40 per cent market share, a seven per cent increase on 2017. It continues to play a role in the Malaysian helicopter market, expanding its presence and increasing its capabilities through a continued plan of investment. With a regional hub for customer support and training near Kuala Lumpur, Leonardo has been present in the region for many years with hundreds of helicopters performing missions such as offshore and passenger transport, utility, homeland security, law enforcement, SAR, EMS, maritime patrol, military naval roles and armed reconnaissance. The company provides a range of security and defence capabilities to the Malaysian government and products, such as air traffic control systems to commercial customers.