PremiAir Aviation has gone through a change of ownership in recent days, and a formal press release is expected very soon. However, part of the changes have involved the repossession of at least four aircraft, including three Sikorsky S76s and a Twin Squirrel which departed from their base at Blackbushe last week by road.  Industry sources point us to the lender being Close Aviation Finance, part of the Close Brothers Group plc.

HeliHub.com can confirm that the three S76s have been moved only a few miles up the road to Fairoaks, and are now stored in a hangar there pending further decisions.  The most likely outcome is that the three will be parted out as spares, particularly the one S76A aircraft for which there is a very poor resale market, but most likely the pair of S76Bs as well.  The three aircraft affected are

G-VONA Sikorsky S-76A – built 1980 – serial number 760086 – hours 7465 at 31/12/2010

G-VONB Sikorsky S-76B – built 1992 – serial number 760399 – hours 6121 at 31/12/2010

G-VONC Sikorsky S-76B – built 1989 – serial number 760354 – hours 70369 at 31/12/2011 (CAA data evidently wrong!)

A Eurocopter AS355N Twin Squirrel G-VONE was also repossessed, but is at a separate location and not at Fairoaks.

Close Aviation Finance are currently not listing any aircraft on the “aircraft for sale” page of their website