Omni Taxi Aereo (Omni), the largest operator of Leonardo AW139 helicopters in South America, has selected Honeywell Aerospace to gradually upgrade its fleet of 31 AW139s with Honeywell's IntuVue RDR-7000 weather radar system. The RDR-7000 is a fully automated advanced flight technology that allows pilots to assess weather in advance to help enable a safer flight trajectory.

The radar system upgrade will enhance navigational capabilities for Omni's fleet while also reducing pilot workload. It will also help Omni decrease maintenance and operational costs, while increasing helicopter availability because it offers higher reliability than legacy radars.

“Any gaps in helicopter availability can negatively impact operations,” says José Vinicius Martins, regional sales manager, Honeywell Aerospace Technologies. “By reducing delays and downtime caused by weather incidents and windshear, the integration of Honeywell's reliable RDR-7000 radar system will enable Omni operators to lower operational costs.

“In tandem, pilots will be able to make quicker decisions before flying in challenging environments because they'll no longer need to manually upload weather conditions or adjust the antenna tilt,” Martins adds.

Based in Brazil, Omni provides a myriad of essential services in its AW139s, including air transport across Brazil, as well as cargo and aeromedical transport. Omni has a fleet size of 71 aircraft and is a leader in the Brazilian offshore sector. The company performs about 700,000 passenger journeys and has accumulated 650,000 flight hours with five million passengers transported.

“In line with Omni's constant search for state-of-the-art solutions that provide maximum safety for our customers, having the opportunity to upgrade our AW139 helicopter fleet weather radars with Honeywell's, starting with nine aircraft in 2024, is a great technological achievement. With this decision, we hope to further strengthen this lasting partnership between the two companies,” says Roberto Coimbra, CEO, Omni.

The RDR-7000 is a fully automated weather radar system engineered to provide far superior reliability, accuracy and durability than legacy magnetron-based radar systems. It offers helicopter and business jet customers the flexibility to remotely enable advanced software features to provide them with the clearest view of weather conditions around common routes. The advanced flight technology also supports Honeywell's alignment of its portfolio to three compelling megatrends, including the future of aviation and automation.