Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: BRS) announced today that the Company will be presenting at the Johnson Rice Energy Conference to be held in New Orleans, September 20 – 22, 2016. Don Miller, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, is scheduled to present on Thursday, September 22, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. CT (2:00 p.m. ET)…. Read more »
Bel Air has just passed the first 5000 safe flight hours with our two AgustaWestland AW189 helicopters. This means that Bel Air remain AW189 fleet leader worldwide. In comparison the total fleet of 23 AW189 helicopters worldwide has flown just under 16000 hours. Bel Air took delivery of two AW189 helicopters from Leonardo Helicopters (formerly… Read more »
Statoil has had its first successful landing of its Sikorsky S-92 on its new Mariner B Helideck. The inaugurating flight began at CHC’s Aberdeen Airport, making this its first offshore flight for the Mariner B. CHC and Statoil are happy with the outcome of their alliance, reports Energy Voice. The pilots, support teams and engineers… Read more »
CHC Helicopter (“CHC”) announced today that it has licensed the AirVault Maintenance Records Management Solution, a new, web-based aircraft maintenance record management system for their entire fleet maintenance operations. AirVault is a proven mission-critical cloud-based electronic document management system designed to manage the digital content and bi-directional processes of aircraft maintenance records for the world’s… Read more »
Baker Hughes has issued rig counts as a service to the petroleum industry since 1944, when Hughes Tool Company began weekly counts of U.S. and Canadian drilling activity. Hughes initiated the monthly international rig count in 1975. The North American rig count is released weekly at noon central time on the last day of the… Read more »
Malaysian operator MHS – via their parent company Boustead Holdings -have commenced legal proceedings in the value of 42,760.810.68 Ringgits – which translates today as 10,564,880 US Dollars Here is the text of the announcement: Pursuant to paragraph 9.04 (g) of the Main Market Listing Requirements of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad, Boustead Holdings Berhad (“Company”) wishes… Read more »
Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: BRS) announced today that the Company will be presenting at the Barclays CEO Energy – Power Conference to be held in New York City, September 6 – 8, 2016. Jonathan E. Baliff , President and Chief Executive Officer, and Don Miller , Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, are scheduled to present on Wednesday, September 7, 2016 at 8:25 a.m. ET (7:25 a.m. CT). A live… Read more »
Lease Corporation International (LCI), the aviation division of the Libra Group, has appointed Christopher Grainger to the role of Vice President Marketing for the EMEA region. Mr Grainger joins LCI with 30 years’ experience in the civil helicopter industry, and was previously Vice President of Oil & Gas Sales for Airbus Helicopters. During his career,… Read more »
Ramco Systems, the global Aviation software provider on Cloud and Mobile, on 30 August announced the successful go-live of Ramco Aviation Suite at state-owned Vietnamese helicopter operator, Southern Vietnam Helicopter Company (VNHS). This implementation marks Ramco Aviation 5.7’s first live customer in Vietnam. The implementation of a unified platform has enabled VNHS integrate operations including… Read more »
Era Group, has announced that David Zaworski has been appointed Director of Safety and Compliance. With over seventeen years of experience in the aviation industry, Mr. Zaworski rejoins Era to oversee the company’s commitment to maintain the highest safety standards. Era’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Chris Bradshaw says, “David brings a wealth of industry… Read more »
The new 7-ton class helicopter has now arrived in Mexico, where it has joined the fleet of Transportes Aéreos Pegaso, a company specialized in air transport services for the energy industry in the Gulf of Mexico. This makes Transportes Aéreos Pegaso the first company to operate this new helicopter on the American continent. A second… Read more »
We are thrilled to share that the global collaboration of HeliOffshore members was recognised yesterday at an award ceremony in Aberdeen. Russ Gould from Bristow Group and Malcolm Garrington from CHC Helicopter took the ‘Sharing & Learning’ award for the Health & Usage Monitoring System Best Practice Guidance. They accepted the award on behalf of… Read more »
NHV has successfully started H175 helicopter operations in Denmark for our customer Maersk Oil, an international oil and gas company with whom we have a long-standing relationship. The contract entails provision of passenger and freight transport services to Maersk Oil installations in the North Sea from Esbjerg. NHV will provide a dedicated crew, technicians and… Read more »
Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc (Bloomberg: Caverton NL) the leading provider of marine, aviation and logistics services to local and international oil and gas companies in Nigeria expects to report materially lower earnings for the period ending 30th June 2016 largely due to the unavoidable impact of the recent Naira devaluation which took place within the second quarter of… Read more »
On August 15, 2016, an Antonov 124, one of the largest aircraft in the world, arrived at Bristow’s New Iberia base to transport two Sikorsky S-92s to Norway. In preparation of the aircraft movement, Bristow’s maintenance crew in Galliano completed the Bristow Continuous Airworthiness Maintenance Program tasks on one of the S-92s and also ensured… Read more »
Bristow Group today announced the promotion of Chipman “Chip” Earle to senior vice president, chief legal and support officer, adding oversight of Bristow’s global communications, executive compensation and information technology functions to his previous responsibilities for all legal aspects of the business, compliance and insurance. Bristow also promoted Mary Wersebe to vice president of human… Read more »
Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: BRS) announced today that its Board of Directors approved a $0.07 per share quarterly dividend. The dividend will be payable on September 15, 2016 to stockholders of record at the close of business on September 1, 2016 (the “Record Date”). There were 35,063,321 shares of Bristow’s common stock issued and outstanding… Read more »
Waypoint Leasing (Ireland) Limited (“Waypoint”), the largest independent global helicopter leasing company, today announced that it will place two AW139 helicopters with new customers in Africa and Asia, respectively. The aircraft are currently being returned from CHC and will be re-deployed with the new customers in support of oil and gas operations. Waypoint also announced… Read more »
Era Group Inc. (NYSE: ERA) (“Era”), a leading helicopter transport operator based in the United States, today announced it will release financial results for its second quarter 2016 after the market closes on Tuesday, August 2, 2016. In connection with the release, Era has scheduled a conference call for Wednesday, August 3, 2016, to begin… Read more »
Heli-One, a subsidiary of operator CHC, has expanded its Poland facility by 6,000+ m² to accommodate helicopter storage for up to 40 “heavy” aircraft. The facility provides for a controlled and monitored environment tailored for aircraft storage, allowing helicopter owners and operators to be assured that their aircraft assets will be maintained to proper storage… Read more »
VIH Aerospace is in the process of delivering two Sikorsky S-92 helicopters to a leading offshore oil and gas operator, in response to the grounding of the Airbus H225. The aircraft identified for quick maintenance and modifications turn-around by VIHA expert engineers have required greatly-differing work scopes in order to meet the compressed delivery timeline… Read more »
Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: BRS), the leading provider of global industrial aviation services, announced today it will release financial results for its fiscal 2017 first quarter ended June 30, 2016, after the market closes on Thursday, August 4, 2016. In conjunction with the release, Bristow has scheduled a conference call, which will be broadcast live… Read more »
Sikorsky, A Lockheed Martin Company (NYSE: LMT) today announced the opening of a Forward Stocking Location in Brisbane, Australia, at the Sikorsky Helitech facility (photo below). The announcement was made at the Farnborough International Air Show. The in-country warehousing of spare parts provides Australian S-76® and S-92® commercial helicopter operators quicker access to materials and… Read more »
Sikorsky and Bristow Helicopters today signed a 10-year agreement providing Bristow’s S-92® fleet with extended support for its aftermarket material needs. Sikorsky’s Total Assurance Program provides Bristow continued aftermarket support to operate its S-92 fleet within a known budget, reducing the risk of unplanned costs. The contract was signed in a ceremony at the 2016… Read more »
The following press release from Waypoint follows this story from VNH South which we ran last week Waypoint Leasing announced that it has closed a lease agreement with Southern Vietnam Helicopter Company (“VNH South”), for one AW189 helicopter, which will support Premier Oil offshore operations from Vung Tau, Vietnam. Philip Stransky, Waypoint’s Vice President, Sales… Read more »
Sikorsky and Babcock Mission Critical Services Ltd. today signed a 10-year agreement providing Babcock’s S-92® helicopter fleet with extended support for its aftermarket material needs. Sikorsky’s Total Assurance Program provides Babcock continued aftermarket support to operate its S-92 fleet within a known budget, reducing the risk of unplanned costs. Babcock MCS Ltd. is a division… Read more »
On July 5th 2016, Southern Vietnam Helicopter Company (VNH South) accepted a new AgustaWestland AW189 (serial 49029) at Vungtau airport after a ferry flight from Malaysia. VNH South has signed a lease contract on this helicopter for six months, along with a further option for another six months. This is a brand new helicopter which… Read more »
Bristow Group announced that Hilary Ware, Senior Vice President and Chief Administration Officer, has left the company for personal reasons, following a brief leave of absence. Jonathan Baliff, Bristow Group CEO, commented: “Hilary has played an important role in Bristow’s exceptional accomplishments for almost nine years and has developed and managed many of Bristow’s key… Read more »
The presentation of an update yesterday on the Norwegian investigation of April’s EC225 accident brings us closer to the issue being one that puts the onus on Airbus rather than CHC – see earlier article. If, and we stress it is still conditional, the final report continues in the same way, then Airbus Helicopters have… Read more »
On June 27, 2016, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Bristow Group Inc. (the “Company”) determined that it was in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders to increase the size of the Board from twelve to thirteen directors and has appointed Mr. A. William Higgins to fill the vacant Board position,… Read more »
The Accident Investigation Board of Norway (AIBN) has released another update in their investigation of the Airbus EC225 accident which happened on 29th April as the CHC aircraft was returning from the Gullfaks platform to Bergen Airport. Of particular note, they state “At this stage of the investigation, the AIBN finds that the accident most… Read more »
Bristow Helicopters in the UK has announce the launch of Bristow Logistics Services Shetland (BLSS) as a new offering to transport oil and gas workers through Scatsta Airport. This will be run in parallel with the existing Integrated Aviation Consortium (IAC) work they have had at the airport for the last 20 years, and will… Read more »
On 14th June 2016, Southern Vietnam Helicopter Company (VNH South) honorably received excellent award given by Murphy Oil for its complete safety operation in support of Murphy Oil’s drilling campaign at Block 11-2/11 that took place from April 5th to May 10th 2016. This is the first time ever VNH South provided helicopter service for… Read more »
Bristow Group today announced the appointment of Samantha Willenbacher to regional director for the Americas Region effective August 1, 2016. Willenbacher replaces Rob Phillips, who has been promoted to the previously announced position of vice president global business operations services. In her new role, Willenbacher will be responsible for directing Bristow’s industrial aviation services, overseeing… Read more »
Waypoint Leasing (Ireland) Limited (“Waypoint”), the largest independent global helicopter leasing company, today announced that it has placed two new Sikorsky S-92s on lease with a global helicopter operator. Waypoint also announced today that it has successfully re-leased 16 aircraft with legacy operators, further demonstrating continued global demand for certain medium and heavy aircraft. Clark… Read more »
Babcock Mission Critical Services Offshore are going through more fleet changes than most following the grounding of the Airbus AS332L2 and EC225 models. In recent weeks they have taken on four new Sikorsky S92s, but that seems to have given them a storage issue at Aberdeen. Yesterday, Babcock transported three AS332L2 Super Pumas by road… Read more »
The global fleet of Sikorsky S-92® helicopters recently surpassed one million flight hours, in an impressively short time of less than 12 years. Sikorsky is a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE: LMT). “We are incredibly thankful to our customers, suppliers and employees for reaching this milestone, and we are tremendously proud of the S-92 helicopter’s industry-leading… Read more »
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is working with commercial airlines and pilots’ unions to improve mental health evaluations, and encourage voluntary reporting of pilot mental health issues. An Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) comprised of aviation and medical experts has made several recommendations about pilot medical fitness. “Safety is always our first… Read more »
As CHC shrinks its global fleet by 90 over 60 days, it is inevitable that headcount will also be reduced. The Aberdeen office of CHC have provided HeliHub.com with the following statement today:- “We have commenced formal consultation discussions with employees, who may be affected by redundancy, and their trade unions at our Aberdeen base…. Read more »
As everyone across the industry, and certainly the offshore helicopter industry, knows, CHC suffered a fatal accident with an Airbus EC225 off Bergen in Norway on 29th April. As a result both the UK and Norwegian authorities grounded the EC225/H225 and AS332L2, and subsequently NHV/Dancopter voluntarily followed suit with their three Danish-based EC225s. EASA later… Read more »
The Portuguese town of Loulé has rejected a request for their municipal heliport to be used as a gateway to support oil and gas exploration off the country’s Algarve coastline. The request was to use the heliport for night flights from a period of at least 45 days starting in September and at times when… Read more »
Babcock MCS have imported two brand new Sikorky S92 helicopters in recent days, with the pair arriving airfreight in an Antonov An-124 to Prestwick Airport and then transported by road to the company base at Aberdeen. They have been registered G-MCSA (serial 920273) and G-MCSB (serial 920281), the first use of a new series of… Read more »
Since October last year Oryx Aviation Consulting (OAC) have been establishing themselves as the preferred provider of Helideck and Helipad inspection services and consultancy, according to both local Regulations and the UK CAP 437, in the UAE and wider MENA region. The company is now offering CAP 437 compliant helideck friction tests utilizing the recognized… Read more »
Embattled offshore operator CHC, in the midst of reducing their fleet by 90 helicopters over 60 days, is taking steps to ensure current contract commitments can be met following the grounding of EC225 and AS332L2 helicopters. In common with other operators on the North Sea, CHC have brought in two Sikorsky S92s from Canada to… Read more »
Bristow Group has moved an offshore-equipped Sikorsky S92 from Brazil to the UK. Owned in the name of their own Brilog Leasing division, the aircraft was previously operated in Brazil by Lider Taxi Aereo as PR-JBH from new in spring 2012. The helicopter is now registered G-CIYD and is serial 920159. I was operated by… Read more »
EASA has issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2016-0104-E which prohibits any flights of Airbus AS332L2 and EC225 helicopters with the exception of a single flight without passengers to ferry such a helicopter to a maintenance base. This follows earlier groundings from the national Civil Aviation Authorities of Norway and the UK, with the exception of… Read more »
HNZ Group has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, HNZ New Zealand Limited, has entered into an offshore oil and gas helicopter support contract with a consortium of customers which includes Shell Todd Oil Services Limited, AWE Taranaki Limited, OMV New Zealand Limited and Origin Energy Resources (Kupe) Limited, New Plymouth. The contract commenced on April… Read more »
HNZ Group Inc. (TSX: HNZ) (the “Corporation”), an international provider of helicopter transportation and related support services, announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, HNZ New Zealand Limited, has entered into an offshore oil and gas helicopter support contract with Shell Philippines Exploration, BV (“SPEX”). Shell has awarded HNZ a five year extension to its existing… Read more »
Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: BRS) announced today that its Board of Directors approved a $0.07 per share quarterly dividend. The dividend will be payable on June 29, 2016 to stockholders of record at the close of business on June 14, 2016 (the “Record Date”). There were 34,978,397 shares of Bristow’s common stock issued and outstanding as… Read more »
Leonardo-Finmeccanica announced today that Falcon Aviation of Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) has taken delivery of a new generation AgustaWestland AW169 light intermediate twin helicopter this month. The handover makes Falcon Aviation the first operator in UAE to use the new type and the first customer worldwide to use the aircraft for offshore oil and… Read more »
Era Group Inc. (NYSE: ERA) (“Era”) is pleased to announce its Search and Rescue (SAR) Program has successfully completed 1,000 missions in the Gulf of Mexico. Collaborating with Priority 1 Air Rescue (“P1AR”), an internationally recognized leader of SAR services, Era pioneered the establishment of its commercial air ambulance and search and rescue offering in… Read more »
As the grounding of the EC225 continues, the North Sea operators are looking around their fleets to see how they can cover the shortfall. Bristow has identified a Sikorsky S92 in its Nigerian operation, and the aircraft is currently on its ferry flight north. The particular aircraft only departed Aberdeen on 23rd March and ferried… Read more »
In an announcement yesterday, Bell has announced that the work for the cabin sub-assembly for the 525 Relentless will relocate from its planned location in Amarillo to the new plant being built at Lafayette, Louisiana. At the same time they announced the 505 JetRanger X line will move to Mirabel in Canada. At the start… Read more »
Bristow Area Manager Paul Doxey joined government officials and representatives from BHP Billiton Trinidad and Tobago in a ceremony at Trinidad May 18, 2016, to mark the inaugural use of the Sikorsky S-92 aircraft in the country which will be used in support of BHP Billiton’s new deepwater drilling campaign. The ceremony was held at… Read more »
Respected aviation media outlet Aviation International News has run a story quoting Bell saying that their new 525 Relentless helicopter, currently under development, is a “Super Puma replacement”. Helihub.com has requested validation of the quote from Bell, but despite opening our email within one minute of sending it over four hours prior to us publishing… Read more »
The mandate for Statoil’s in-house investigation of the helicopter accident on 29 April is ready. The purpose of the investigation is to identify measures to improve Statoil’s work on helicopter safety on the Norwegian continental shelf. The Accident Investigation Board Norway is responsible for identifying the chain of events and the cause of the accident…. Read more »
Bristow Helicopters are today starting operations from Norwich using a Sikorsky S92. This is the first time the S92 has been used by any operator out of Norwich, one of two key bases for the southern sector of the North Sea and supporting offshore rigs involved in gas production. The move has come around following… Read more »
HeliOffshore Chief Executive Officer Gretchen Haskins, in closing remarks yesterday, described how recent helicopter tragedies had strengthened the industry’s resolve to enhance the safety of offshore helicopter operations. “We owe it to those who lost loved ones in Norway – and in other accidents – to do everything to continue our collaboration and deliver safety breakthroughs,”… Read more »
Belgian based operator NHV have recently taken two Airbus H175 helicopters out to Western Africa, and will be operating them from Ghana. They will be based at Takoradi under contract to Tullow Oil, which has had interests in two exploration licences offshore Ghana since 2006. NHV now has two H175s based at Aberdeen in the… Read more »
HNZ Group have reported their first quarter numbers covering January to March 2016, with revenue up 26.6% from $36.5M to $46.2M in the comparative quarter last year. The company has seen increased revenue from all three business segments, despite flying hours being down 6.49% from 7025 to 6569 hours. The prime reason for the jump… Read more »
International law firm Gowling WLG has appointed Matthew Harvey as a partner in its banking and finance team in London. He joins the firm from Dentons where he has been a partner since 2000. Matthew has over 20 years’ experience acting for corporates, banks and finance companies on structured, asset and export finance transactions. He… Read more »
Following the tragic Norwegian Super Puma helicopter accident on Friday 29 April, the UK and Norwegian Civil Aviation Authorities have been collaborating very closely and are united in their approach. Shortly after the accident, both organisations introduced restrictions to the Airbus EC225LP helicopter to prevent operators using it for commercial flights. Both organisations have now… Read more »
Waypoint Leasing (Ireland) Limited (“Waypoint”), today announced that it has closed a revolving credit facility led by the Specialty Finance Lending unit of KeyBank, N.A. This facility provides additional revolving capacity to increase Waypoint’s total revolving credit facility commitments by $37 million to $575 million. The company will use the proceeds of this transaction to… Read more »
An official court-filed statement provides a lot more information about the situation at CHC. It was filed by Michael B Cox, Global Head of Seabury’s Corporate Advisory Services. Seabury was retained by CHC Group and each of the other debtors (collectively, the “Debtors”) in early 2016 to provide strategic business advice with respect to restructuring… Read more »
CHC Group (OTC Pink Sheets: HELIQ; the “Company” or “CHC”) today announced the appointment of William L. Transier to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. An independent, Class II director, Mr. Transier’s term is until the Company’s 2018 annual general meeting of shareholders. He was also elected to serve on the Board’s Audit Committee and… Read more »
PHI, Inc. (The Nasdaq Global Market: PHII (voting) PHIIK (non-voting)) today reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2016. Consolidated operating revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2016 were $164.0 million, compared to $204.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016, a decrease of $40.2 million. Oil and Gas… Read more »
CHC Group (OTC Pink Sheets: HELIQ; the “Company” or “CHC”) today announced the Company has received approval from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas for its First Day motions related to its voluntary Chapter 11 reorganization. Collectively, the First Day orders issued by the Court will help CHC continue to… Read more »
Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: BRS), the leading provider of helicopter services to the offshore energy industry, announced today it will release financial results for its fiscal year and fourth quarter ended March 31, 2016, after the market closes on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. In conjunction with the release, Bristow has scheduled a conference call, which… Read more »
Bristow Caribbean has announced that they have secured a new contract with BHP Billiton in Trinidad and Tobago. The contract begins thi smonth using Sikorsky S-92 aircraft. This will be the first time an S-92 has been operated in the Trinidad and Tobago oil and gas market and the first time that Bristow is using… Read more »
The Offshore Safety Awards – jointly organised by Step Change in Safety and Oil & Gas UK – has been postponed until Wednesday 17 August. The decision was made by the membership organisations so both companies can focus closely on supporting the industry and workforce following the helicopter crash in Norway on Friday (29 April)…. Read more »
Bristow Helicopters has completed a one year contract in the Falkland Islands with three Sikorsky S92s. While the contract allowed for extensions beyond the first year, the continued depressed oil price has meant that these were not exercised – as predicted by HeliHub.com. The company’s announcement of the contract win early in 2015 described it… Read more »
CHC Group today announced that the Company and certain of its wholly-owned subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas to facilitate the restructuring of its balance sheet and fleet, and position the Company for… Read more »
Two and a half weeks ago, on April 15th, CHC chose to delay the payment of $46 Million in interest due on its 9.25% senior secured notes maturing October 15, 2020 (the “2020 Notes”). At the time, our analysis of the company’s unaudited balance sheet at 31 January 2016 showed that its liabilities exceeded its… Read more »
Given the volume of emails and phone calls that HeliHub.com has received in recent days, mainly from outside the helicopter industry, we are taking this opportunity to put one key point down in writing. They key area of investigation is the main rotor gearbox and the suspension bars which sit at an angle to hold… Read more »
Shell has issued the following statement, in which they confirm they are suspending using CHC Norway as an operator. The oil company’s decision does not extend to CHC in any other country. “Shell has with sadness followed the reports of the tragic event outside Bergen in Norway. Our thoughts and condolences go out to the… Read more »