Spain’s Helisureste has added a sixth Agusta A109 E Power to its fleet. The aircraft, which is based in Teruel, will be placed on a HEMS contract and will operate in the Aragon province.

The company took delivery of its latest fleet addition in March and anticipates that it will log between 250 to 300 hours per year.

“We chose the A109 E Power because of its speed, performance, size and reliability compared to its nearest competitor,” said spokesman Victor Chauvet of Helisureste’s international commercial department. “Being an authorised service centre, we are very knowledgeable about the aircraft.”

Chauvet states that for the scheduled services it operates, the typical load factor occupancy of its fleet is between 77 to 80 per cent. Other operations, including freight, survey, photography, sightseeing and leisure flights account for less than 10 per cent of its business.

“Our company is buying a lot of helicopters, focusing on new helicopters in order to upgrade and expand our fleet,” said marketing manager Antonio Martinez. “As well as acquiring our sixth Power for HEMS work, we aim to receive two brand-new Bell 412EPs in the coming months, which will increase our 412 fleet to

12 helicopters.

“One of these helicopters will be placed in Malta, where we are operating our second helicopter airline (from Gozo to Malta) and the other one will be available for any incoming operation, for example in the offshore sector in the Mediterranean.”

The Malta-based aircraft, which is due for delivery in June, will make daily return flights to Gozo Heliport until October 29. Helisureste also operates Bell 205, JetRanger, LongRanger, Twin Ranger, 212, 407 and Kamov Ka-32 helicopters. In addition to these, it operates a number of fixed-wing aircraft, including Citations, King Airs and a Partenavia P68.

“The brands that we mainly operate and maintain are Agusta and Bell – we are an authorised service centre for both manufacturers,” commented Chauvet. “Although we do operate some Bell helicopters for HEMS work, we also use them for public transport, for the Málaga to Ceuta route.

“It’s not a secret that Bell helicopters are some of the best heavy duty aircraft, with a five star customer service level and philosophy.”