TYUMEN, February 13. /TASS/. The Mi-171A2 multirole helicopter completed the first commercial flight, TASS reported from the official ceremony in the Plekhanovo airport.
RN-Uvatneftegaz, an affiliate of the Russian oil major Rosneft, will be the first company to charter flights of Mi-171A2. UTair-Helicopter Services will act as a carrier.
"The starting customer of the state-of-the-art helicopter will be Tyumen-based RN-Uvatneftegaz, a member of Rosneft Group of companies. Mi-171A2 will carry company’s employees from Tyumen and Tobolsk for work on oilfields of the Uvat Cluster in West Siberia," the Russian Helicopters holding said.
Mi-171A2 is the latest modification of Mi-8/17 helicopter. This version has the 10-percent increase of the maximum speed and new engines with the digital control system. The crew was reduced to two persons owing to the digital avionics package.
"The helicopter can be efficiently used day and night, in high-mountain conditions, under low and high temperatures, high humidity and over water surface," Russian Helicopters said. "Advance warning systems of ground proximity, other aircraft and collisions on helicopter route were applied for the purpose of safety increase," the company said.