Rotary operator NHV has entered into a contract with Nautical Petroleum, a subsidiary of Cairn Energy, to provide helicopter services for a drilling project at the Ekland Field 120nm east of Aberdeen. Flights will depart from NHV's Aberdeen base.

NHV will utilise H175s for the work, a type it has put to extensive oil and gas field use in the UK, the Netherlands, Ghana and Denmark since 2014. The operator ordered 10 H175s in March 2012 and a further six in February 2014. In December 2014 it became the launch customer for the type by accepting the first of these aircraft.

Aberdeen base manager Jamie John says: "The award of this contract strengthens our long-standing relationship with Nautical Petroleum, for whom we have already supported projects in west Africa. The new operation in Aberdeen signals the first North Sea collaboration between the two companies, and we are looking forward to prov- iding support.''

NHV has also signed a contract with Dana Petroleum to provide helicopter services to its central and northern North Sea assets. Daily flights will depart from NHV's base in Aberdeen to the Triton floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) in the central North Sea and the Western Isles FPSO in the East Shetland Basin for a period of five years. The journey to the Western Isles FPSO represents NHV's longest range scheduled flight using the H175, and the company will be adding a factory-new H175 to the Aberdeen fleet to service the contract. So far, NHV's H175s have accumulated more than 23,000 flight hours.

John continues: "We are delighted that Dana Petroleum has selected us. The award of this long term contract has created a real buzz around NHV and we are all looking forward to getting started."

While a lot of NHV's work comes from the oil and gas sector, it also performs SAR, HEMS, maritime services and wind farm support. Its subsidiary Airlift in Norway provides a variety of onshore helicopter services including heavy lift, construction support and aerial photography.

"The H175 is very comfortable for our passengers and our pilots and engineers appreciate the whole design concept," explains John. "We have traditionally used a lot of Airbus products, including the AS365, H155 and H225. However we also operate a number of Leonardo helicopters such as the AW169 and AW139." Aberdeen has capacity for up to eight helicopters, and NHV currently has four on contract. "We have grown our Aberdeen base and look forward to starting our new contracts and enjoying further growth. While the oil industry is on the up, we remain cautious and are looking at feasible business options that will sustain our company," John concludes.