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Bristow deepens operations, acquires five aircraft

By Wole Oyebade
24 May 2019   |   4:07 am
Bristow Helicopters Nigeria has deepened its local operations with the acquisition of at least five additional aircraft.

Bristow

Bristow Helicopters Nigeria has deepened its local operations with the acquisition of at least five additional aircraft.

The new equipment, which include the Sikorsky S76D & S92, the Leonardo AW139 & AW189 helicopters, and also the Embraer ERJ 145 Jet aircraft, are to provide more options and resilience to its operations, especially in the oil and gas industry.

Bristow is the first and currently the only operator of both the Sikorsky S76D and Leonardo AW189 helicopter in the offshore oil and gas market in Africa. It is also, currently, the only operator of the Sikorsky S92 aircraft type in Nigeria with well over 32,000 flight hours flown on this aircraft type in Nigeria since its introduction to the country in 2008.

Managing Director of Bristow, Captain ‘Dapo Oyeleke, said these additions to the Bristow Nigeria fleet signified the importance, growth potential and confidence the company has in the Nigerian market.

“Nigeria continues to be a very important market for Bristow. Besides an unwavering commitment to safety and exceptional service delivery, our business strategy revolves around our understanding of individual client’s future requirements and ability to accurately forecast the needs of the oil and gas market; and then proactively delivering safe, best in class, and cost effective solutions tailored to fully meet those requirements.

“The twin-engine, air-conditioned helicopters with 12, 16 and 19 passenger seat configurations in the medium, light heavy and heavy type categories offer our clients choice, flexibility and the ability to ‘breathe in, and breathe out’, in such a way that drives down their operating costs per seat, per mile, mitigates exposure to one ‘Original Aircraft Manufacturer’ OEM type and optimises payload,” he said.

Oyeleke pledged that the company would continue to invest heavily in new innovative technology, processes and above all its people.

The Sikorsky S76D helicopter represents the latest variant of tried and tested S76 Series. A proven aircraft type that has flown well over seven million flight hours since its first variant came into operation in 1977.

This medium sized aircraft type and its variants is the workhorse of the industry. With its two Pratt & Whitney engines, composite blades, low noise signature, smaller D-Value, modern avionics suite and 400nm range, the S76D (as with the S76C++ type) is ideally suited to support the daily shuttles to the oil and gas accommodation platforms and unmanned offshore installations in the Niger Delta.

The Sikorsky S92 on the other hand, is the largest helicopter type supporting the oil and gas industry in Nigeria today, and arguably the only heavy type aircraft currently supporting industry globally. With its robust gear box design, 540nm range and 19-Seat capacity, this aircraft is ideally suited to long range, crew change flights to offshore Rigs, FPSOs and also for Search & Rescue. Besides providing an ideal opportunity for client sharing, the aircraft’s internal seat configuration and large cabin space and cabin windows essentially provide such room and comfort as to qualify it as an ‘airliner’.

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