The Italian Fire Brigade orders a new P.180 Avanti EVO
Just a few weeks following the announcement of the sale of a P.180 Avanti EVO to a customer in the United States, Piaggio Aerospace adds a new order to its book, this time signed by an entity headed by the Ministry of the Interior: purchasing a new unit of the lead product of the Ligurian company is the Italian National Fire Brigade, which will receive the airplane in the summer of next year.
The sale has been announced by the Extraordinary Commissioner of Piaggio Aerospace, Vincenzo Nicastro, during a (virtual) meeting organized last Friday, October 23, by the Ministry of Economic Development (MISE), with the participation of representatives of the local authorities and the trade unions and chaired by the Undersecretaries of the Economic Development, Alessandra Todde and Gian Paolo Manzella.
The configuration of the airplane, which will replace an older P.180, will be customized to the needs of the Brigade, in order to perform various tasks: it will, in fact, be a version assigned to personnel transport, up to eight passengers, as well as Search and Rescue (SAR) missions, carrying one stretcher and featuring a Flight Management System (FMS) capable of SAR Mode, particularly suited for such operations. The P.180 will be delivered with a passenger door larger than the standard one, so that the assigned activities will be performed more easily.
The contract, signed today, includes the commitment by Piaggio Aerospace to perform scheduled and non-scheduled maintenance both on the new, as well as on a second airplane of the Fire Brigade fleet, for two years following the delivery. The total value of the order is approximately 9 million euros.
The conclusion of the meeting was soon followed by the comment of Paolo Maurizi, Head of the Aerial Service and Airport Rescue Coordination Office, Emergency Central Directorate, National Fire Brigade. “One of the two aircraft of our fleet needed significant configuration updates, and its replacement with one of new production seemed soon to us to be the optimal solution,” Maurizi said. “We can continue to appreciate the excellent characteristics of the P.180, but with increased capability and lower operating cost”.
“With this order, which is added to the 14 obtained since the beginning of the Extraordinary Administration, Piaggio Aerospace confirms to have in its portfolio a product, the P.180 Avanti EVO, which in its most recent configuration well fits the operating needs of those working daily to guarantee the safety of the citizens”, Nicastro commented from his side. “The renovated trust placed in us by the Fire Brigade takes on at this time a particular significance, as the company in its entirety is now close to the award to a new owner and the opening of a new chapter in its history”.