South African rotorcraft operator Ultimate Heli has started its annual Antarctica deployments. The company will be operating off two separate ice breakers and the first two Bell 412EP helicopters and crew were successfully deployed in early January. A further two Airbus Helicopter H125s and crew will be deployed in mid January. Ultimate Heli will resupply two permanent Antarctica stations in the Princess Elizabeth land in eastern Antarctica and various stations in Dronning Maud Land, northern Antarctica.

CEO Shaun Roseveare says: “This is our seventh consecutive Antarctica expedition. It has been challenging deploying helicopter crews to comply with the strict COVID-19 regulations but we have safely worked within the international deployment guidelines, and we are looking forward to a successful expedition.”