Bond Offshore Helicopters is to launch its services to the North Sea oil and gas industry more than eight weeks early, with the first operational flights taking place as EBAN goes to press.

“Thanks to an accelerated development programme, enthu-siastic teamwork all round and market demand, we have advanced our original start-up date by about two months,” said Geoff Williams, managing director of Bond Offshore Helicopters.

“The early start means that we are undertaking additional work from later this week.”

Bond has already secured a major contract to provide crew change services to BP Exploration for 10 years from August 1 this year and also has capacity to service other customers. The earlier start will allow Bond to provide BP with helicopter services for ad hoc project work.

Bond also expects to begin providing services for other oil companies by early next week.

A programme to recruit initially 70 staff, including 30 pilots and 25 engineers, as well as support personnel, was completed earlier this year. Pilots and engineers have recently undergone training

and familiarisation at helicopter manufacturer, Eurocopter, and flight simulation organisation, Helisim, in France.

“We are delighted with the tremendous response to our recruitment programme and the calibre of staff joining the company,” said Williams. “The high quality of our team will match the high technology of our aircraft.”

Deliveries of the first Eurocopter Super Puma AS332L Mark II twin-engine aircraft, which have

been ordered at a cost of around £11 million each to provide enhanced safety and performance, began last month.

The first arrived in Aberdeen in late May, the second and third are due in June, and two others are to be delivered by July.

Bond has invested more than £2 million in upgrading existing engineering, workshop and office facilities on the airport’s east side.

Williams added: “Getting into position to service the industry represents phase one of our development strategy and will be followed by further phases as we build up our role in the market.”

The Aberdeen headquarters will provide administrative support for a 10-year search-and-rescue contract, awarded in May by BP Exploration and for which Bond is recruiting around 40 staff, including pilots, rescue crew and engineers.

These aircraft, ordered for delivery in the second half of next year, will be based on a production platform

in the Central North Sea and at Scatsta, Shetland.