Gulf Aviation supports Cardiff Heliport at NATO gathering

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Cardiff Heliport during the NATO summit in September 2014

During the NATO summit held in Cardiff in September, Gulf Aviation helped Cardiff Heliport by providing fuel supplies to keep the emergency aircraft airborne.

The NATO global gathering of world leaders brought stringent security measures to Cardiff including five police helicopters which needed to be refuelled constantly, as well as an air ambulance and a military helicopter.

The heliport, which usually goes through an average of 10,000 litres of aviation fuel a month, needed a resupply after more than 30,000 litres were drained from its stockpile in three days.

Gulf Aviation, a division of national fuel and lubricants supplier Certas Energy, supplied the heliport with an urgent transportation of fuel from Grangemouth in Scotland to the Welsh Capital.

Paul Stanfield, assistant head of operations at Cardiff Heliport, said: “I have never seen the heliport so busy. We have a capacity to hold 40,000 litres of fuel, but at the rate our fuel supply was being depleted, we wouldn’t have had enough fuel for the police helicopters to deal with anything unplanned. Gulf went above and beyond to supply the emergency transportation of fuel, which thankfully arrived less than 24 hours after I called them.”

“For the last few years we have seen a reduction in businesses using the heliport as a base, and we’re used almost as a refuelling station for passing trade. We are looking to take the heliport in a new direction and are currently looking for a new operator with fresh ideas to develop this with us,” added Stanfield.

David Dykes, the Supply, Logistics & Commercial manager at Gulf Aviation, said: “We were happy to be able support Cardiff Heliport with the emergency fuel they needed in order to see the NATO summit through. Making sure we give a personal and customer focussed service is an integral part of our offering.”

Cardiff Heliport is situated in docks area of the city, the facility is owned by Cardiff Council. The council are hoping to attract a new tenant operator to take-over the lease, to operate and develop the heliport. The heliport can be operated 24 hours a day.

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