Eurocopter yesterday marked the 100th delivery of an EC225, which was received by Bristow Group Inc. (Bristow) – the leading provider of helicopter services to the offshore energy industry worldwide.
The landmark EC225 was supplied in the oil and gas configuration, but it can be used by Bristow in other missions due to the multi-role helicopter’s designed-in operational flexibility.
Marking the successful association of Eurocopter and this valued customer, today’s EC225 delivery ceremony was held at the helicopter manufacturer’s Marignane, France, facility in the presence of Eurocopter President & CEO Lutz Bertling; Mark Duncan, Bristow’s Senior Vice President – Commercial; and Bristow’s CFO, Jonathan Baliff; who were joined by Wolfgang Schoder, Eurocopter’s Executive Vice President for Programs.
“Eurocopter’s 100th EC225 delivery is a historic moment, and it is particularly appropriate that we are marking this milestone with Bristow, which was the EC225’s launch customer,” Bertling stated . “In addition, this latest delivery of an EC225 to Bristow underscores the helicopter’s capabilities to meet the most demanding requirements,” he added.
“We are looking forward to the introduction of our eighteenth EC225 increasing our capacity to serve the oil and gas market. This aircraft together with the two delivered in June are already contracted to a customer in Malaysia.” said Duncan.
Bristow was the launch customer in the Oil & Gas market for the EC225 when the type was introduced into service in 2005 as well as being the launch customer for the AS332L in the early 1980s. More than 50,000 hours have been logged by Bristow’s EC225s, representing approximately one-third of all flight time accumulated by this helicopter type worldwide. Furthermore Bristow and Eurocopter have a Memorandum of Agreement in place for acquisition of the EC175 for which again Bristow will be the launch customer, underscoring the special relationship and partnership between the two companies.
Bristow Group is the leading provider of helicopter services to the worldwide offshore energy industry based on the number of aircraft operated, and is one of two helicopter service providers to the offshore energy industry with global operations. The company has a major presence in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea, along with operations in most of the other major offshore oil and gas producing regions of the world – including Alaska, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia and Trinidad.
The EC225 offers offshore the oil and gas industry superior speed, range, payload, optimal safety and reliability. The helicopter is the latest generation of the Super Puma/Cougar family, which has flown more than 4 million flight hours. The EC225 can accommodate up to 19 passengers for offshore crew change flights.
EC225s are used worldwide in a full range of missions, including offshore, search & rescue, VVIP transport, firefighting, aerial work and law enforcement. The helicopter is designed to meet the highest safety standard levels, which is backed by its system redundancy, a highly capable automatic flight control system (AFCS), and the capability for full deicing – which allows flight in all known icing conditions.
[mappress] Source: Eurocopter, July 13, 2011;