New presidential helicopter for Nigeria
On 2 March 2021, Oscar Bernardi made this photo of a Leonardo AW189 for the Nigerian Air Force. The helicopter, registered I-RAIW, is painted in the colours of the 101 Presidential Air Fleet.
This unit is based at Abuja/Nnamdi Azikiwe (Nigeria) and operates two Leonardo AW139 helicopters next to a fleet of fixed wing aircraft. It is not known yet how many AW189s have been ordered, but most probably just one.
We think that the construction number of the AW189 is 49068, but we would like to see this confirmed.
According to our information the 101 Presidential Air Fleet has the following aircraft in its inventory:
Photo: Oscar Bernardi