Eurocopter presented yesterday an award of excellence to Transportes Aereos Pegaso for the more than 2,000 flight hours logged in 2011 by one of this operator’s EC135 P2 helicopters during oil and gas industry transportation missions in the Gulf of Mexico.

The milestone aircraft, which carries Mexican registration number XA-UDN, accumulated a total of 2,014 hours aloft last year, and is part of Pegaso’s fleet that currently consists of 27 Eurocopter-built helicopters, ranging from the BO105 and BK117 to the EC130, EC135, EC145 and EC155. Pegaso’s inventory will expand this year with additional EC145s, and the company also is a launch customer for Eurocopter’s new EC175.

“This record performance for an EC135 is a testimony to Pegaso’s excellence in its operations and support for demanding oil and gas missions serving the Gulf of Mexico,” said Serge Durand, the CEO of Eurocopter de Mexico. “It also underscores the EC135’s high reliability, flexibility and ease of maintenance, which is demonstrated day after day in the country and around the world.”

Pegaso’s main operating base is at Cuidad del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico and the company has been flying Eurocopter helicopters for more than 25 years. In addition to its flights for the oil and gas sector, Pegaso performs a variety of passenger and cargo transportation services, along with utility work and firefighting duties.

“The EC135 is a real workhorse for us, which is extremely important as oil and gas production with PEMEX continues its rapid growth in the Gulf of Mexico,” explained Pegaso CEO Enrique Zepeda. “This is not the first time we have set a milestone for Eurocopter helicopters, as one of our EC145s topped the previous yearly record for this type with the 1,889 flight hours logged in 2008.”