Veritair, the Welsh helicopter operator, has been awarded a £3 million contract with Qinetiq (formerly the Defence Evacuation and Research agency) for helicopter support at its range facility at Aberporth, Dyfed.

Veritair’s director of operations, captain Julian Verity, confirmed from the company’s Cardiff Heliport base that Veritair is now acquiring another twin-engine helicopter, bringing the Cardiff fleet to three.

The new machine would be based predominantly at the recently-civilianised West Wales Airfield

at Aberporth, and effect target recovery offshore in Cardigan Bay utilising the ‘Pelican’ underslung recovery system.

Veritair says it already uses the system regularly to recover targets off the ranges at Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides. Verity says that the procedure involves demanding and exacting flying and had taken several years to perfect.

Peter Sorby from British Inter-national, Veritair’s parent company, said that he was delighted Qinetiq had chosen Veritair as the tasks to be undertaken were similar to other contracts already held by the company, for the Ministry of Defence in the UK and the Falklands.

Speaking from the group’s headquarters at Sherbourne, Dorset, he further added that he was pleased BI’s investment in the company was proving so successful and that it was a pleasure doing business in Wales.

Other Veritair contracts supported directly from the Cardiff Heliport include police operations for South Wales and Gwent Police, and operations for BBC Research and Development / BBC World Service both at home and abroad, with recent contracts accomplished in Oman and Cyprus.