UK rotary operator Starspeed has added an AW169 and an EC145 to its AOC. The AW169 will be immediately available for ad hoc charter and is the only one of its kind currently available in the country. The type has been used for HEMS over the last year and director Simon Mitchell says that having it on the AOC is a very exciting prospect.

“At 4,800kg, the AW169 sits in the middle between the AW109 and AW139, so it weighs less than an EC155 and less than a Sikorsky S-76,” he says. “It is filling a gap that hasn't been filled yet. It is too early to say what its charter potential will be so we will wait and see. It is a managed aircraft, so any charter availability on it is subject to the owner not needing it. We won't really know how good it is for charter until there are one or two more of them around.”

The AW169 has iPad and iPhone integration and windows that can be tinted by passenger control. Mitchell also speaks highly of its vertical performance: “It will be very good from smaller sites, which current generation helicopters can't manage so well. You have to drop payload quite heavily in the current generation to achieve this, whereas with the 169 you can go to the max.”

The company has been operating the EC145 for some time, and by placing it on the AOC Starspeed anticipates using it for commercial yacht ops. While the company doesn't see much demand for it onshore, providing transfers to and from super yachts is viewed as a potential growth market.

Mitchell, who has a background in safety issues as a visiting fellow at Cranfield University and received the Eric Brown Award from the British Helicopter Association for his contribution to safety standards, also commented on the recent tragic Squirrel clash over north Wales. He wishes to highlight some industry events that are taking place this year to help address the causal factors. On 17 May the UK CAA and British Helicopter Association are holding a safety symposium at Oxford airport, while on 5 July RAeS is hosting a rotorcraft conference to highlight technologies that improve safety in poor weather, and on 14 September corporate operators and the Air Accident Investigation Branch are holding a safety day at Farnborough. “All the safety agencies are heavily involved and as an industry we are trying to improve the situation. There is now a real groundswell of events and people looking at this,” he concludes.