Last Thursday, April 30, Airlift marked the opening of their new base in Tromsø in northern Norway.  The facility has been set up  in connection with the Norwegian Police as an additional preparedness resource. Present to mark the opening were the police chief in Troms police district, Astrid Nilsen, Chief of Staff Morten Pettersen, Minister of Justice Monica Mæland and operations manager of Airlift, Erlend Haugsbø.

From Friday May 1, Airlift now makes available an AW169 on call to the Police, with a one hour response time 24 hours a day, all year.  The helicopter will operate from Tromsø Airport, supporting Troms, Nordland and Finnmark police districts.  In winter months, where the location has very few daylight hours, the operator may switch to an Airbus AS332C Super Puma.

Airlift has been selected as a supplier for four years with the possibility of renewal for up to three further years.  The contract excludes search, rescue and ambulance missions, which will continue to be handled by other public services.

Airlift is part of NHV and operates three Leonardo AW169s, which they acquired in summer 2017 to fly Norwegian Coastal Administration for the provision of marine pilotage to larger vessels arriving on the Norwegian coast.  They also have an Airbus AS332L1 Super Puma, an AS332C, twelve AS350B3s and two AS350B2s.

The Norwegian Police operate their own fleet of three Leonardo AW169s.

Jeremy Parkin – HeliHub.com