On 19 January 2012 the Icelandic Coast Guard signed a 12 month lease on a Eurocopter AS332L1 Super Puma.  The aircraft was delivered ex Stavangar on 1st February from where it was previously operated by Bristow Norway as LN-OBA – it is now registered TF-SYN and is serial number 2384 – and will be used for SAR work.  The positioning flight went via Vagar in the Faroe Islands.

Part of the reason behind this lease is the necessary overhaul work required on another Super Puma in the fleet, TF-LIF, which will shortly be ferried to Norway for that purpose.  On a longer term basis, the target is for the Coast Guard to have two operational Super Pumas at all times, with a third available if it is not under maintenance.

The new addition has been leased from Knut Axel Ugland Holding AS, the Norwegian shipping group that also owns the operator Lufttransport.  Up to 2008, Ugland was also the 51% shareholder of Norsk Helikopter, until they sold out to Bristow Group who owned the corresponding 49% and the company was renamed Bristow Norway.

Icelandic Coast Guard now operate three Super Pumas and one Dash-8 fixed wing.  The photo shown here is of TF-GNA, one  of the existing pair of Super Pumas prior to the arrival of TF-SYN in the last week – itself in basic Norsk Helikopter scheme without their titles and with Icelandic flag/crest added.

Jeremy Parkin – HeliHub.com