海角视频 search and rescue service provider Bristow Helicopters Ltd has been awarded a contract extension by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
The US owned operator - owner of Humberside Airport, where one of 10 strategic bases is located - will continue to provide the emergency response service until the end of 2026.
It said the 18-month extension of the first ever commercial contract - which replaced operations provided by the RAF and Royal Navy - will allow it to cost-effectively introduce new capabilities into the existing helicopter fleet and to explore technologies which may be of benefit in future contracts.
Alan Corbett, chief executive, said: “Our specialist teams have worked tirelessly, diligently and with unquestionable pride to ensure the transition from a military and coastguard operation to a fully commercialised SAR helicopter service.
“We have, throughout the years since, committed ourselves to delivering a service that is equal to or better than that which it replaced. The post-implementation report commissioned by the MCA, confirms the success of that process, and the achievement of many of the goals identified as key measures of success.
“Bristow remains fully committed to working with the MCA to realise its remaining goals. The extension of the current contract allows us to cost-effectively introduce new capabilities into the existing helicopter fleet and to explore technologies which may be of benefit in future contracts.”
Bristow, which is based in Aberdeen, with the group headquartered in Texas, employs approximately 360 people. A fleet of 11 AW189 and 10 S-92 SAR equipped aircraft are operated from Caernarfon, North Wales; Humberside, Inverness, Scotland; Lee-On-Solent, Hampshire; Lydd, Kent; Newquay, Cornwall; Prestwick, Scotland; Stornoway, Isle of Lewis; Sumburgh, Shetland and St Athan, South Wales. Several were new-build bases.
The past year saw 2,380 calls, averaging seven a day, down 2 per cent on 2018-19, with the figure to the end of March taking in the start of lockdown. A total of 1,555 people were rescued, with 84 per cent of tasks land or coast based, with the remaining 16 per cent maritime-focused.
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Prestwick and Newquay were the busiest, at 338 calls and 298, with Stornoway and Humberside the lowest at 140 and 180.
The parent company has had to stave off bankruptcy after a huge downturn in the oil and gas industry was twinned with the discovery of lease defaults relating to helicopter engine change-outs. As it acted to shore itself up it sold the fixed wing airline Eastern Airways - a purchase made alongside the north Lincolnshire airport - back to the founder, Richard Lake OBE.
It has since merged with Era, one of the largest helicopter operators in the world, with an overhauled management team, and remains a £1.1 billion turnover company on the New York Stock Exchange.
The extension to the contract which began in early 2015 will facilitate the procurement process for the next contract, known as the 海角视频SAR2G programme.