Bond Offshore Helicopters has been awarded a new contract with Perenco Oil and Gas, worth in the region of £37 million, for the provision of crew change flights to Perenco's newly-acquired assets in the southern North Sea.

Operations are due to commence from Humberside airport in January, with a new-to-fleet AW139 medium category helicopter, for an initial contract period of three years with options to extend. It is expected that up to 15 new posts will be created at Humberside for the provision of the service.

Luke Farajallah, newly-appointed md of Bond Offshore Helicopters, says: "This is an exciting new win, and reflects in no small part the focus on service provision and customer support in our existing work with Perenco Oil and Gas. This will be our first aircraft operating out of Humberside airport and we very much look forward to further growth in order to establish a significant presence in the area."

Farajallah brings with him 25 years of aviation experience leading different functions in a number of airlines both in the UK and internationally. Most recently he has been working in Barcelona with a new low-cost airline called Volotea and prior to this he held senior roles in Wizz Air, Spanair and at easyJet.

"I believe that Bond Offshore Helicopters has a fantastic business proposition combining safety, operational excellence and customer service to provide reliable mission critical services of the highest calibre. Its role in crew change transportation and search and rescue is critical to the oil and gas industry and the local community in Aberdeen and I am proud to lead the company forward through its next stages of development," he says.

Interim managing director Malcolm Paine has returned to his role as director of flight operations.

Richard Mintern, ceo for Northern Europe and Australasia of parent company Avincis, says: "Luke takes over at Bond Offshore Helicopters at a time when the industry is facing significant logistical challenges. His solid industry experience and creativity will be of great value as the company finds customer solutions to the current lack of capacity in the North Sea."