NHV wins offshore contract with Neptune Energy Aberdeen
Helicopter operator NHV Group, based in Ostend Belgium, has won an 18-month contract with Neptune Energy Aberdeen to support its offshore Seagull Field development in the central North Sea.
The deal will see NHV transporting passengers on H175 flights from the company’s Aberdeen base to the drilling rig.
NHV’s base manager Jamie John said: “We are delighted that Neptune Energy has decided to partner with NHV. This new contract again allows us to showcase our safe, reliable, and efficient H175 services. The Seagull passengers will benefit from our state-of-the-art handling facility, whilst experiencing the comfort and safety features of the H175. We look forward to building a genuine and reliable partnership with Neptune Energy and are eager to start flying on their behalf.”
The Airbus super medium H175 aircraft (pictured above) was designed to meet the evolving mission needs in the oil and gas industry. NHV was the global launching customer of this platform, whose first two aircraft entered service in December 2014.
The operator has gradually expanded its H175 operations to bases in the North Sea and West Africa. NHV began operating out of Aberdeen at the start of 2016 and announced the opening of a new hangar, apron and passenger handling facilities in October 2016.
Neptune is the operator of Seagull and has a 35% equity interest. Its joint venture partners are BP with 50% and JAPEX with 15%.
NHV operates on several bases on two continents with a team of more than 550 employees. The operator’s main focus is the energy producing industry but also runs missions in Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS), Maritime Services, which include Search and Rescue (SAR), offshore Wind Farms and Harbour Pilot Services.
Meanwhile, Sebastien Moulin, head of Europe & Americas at Milestone Aviation Group, told Helicopter Investor’s Town Hall online meeting last week that the sector was recovering from the impact of Covid-19 global pandemic. “No doubt, oil demand has been affected,” he said. “Some of the projects we had anticipated to come online have been delayed or cancelled.”
However, flight hours returned to pre-Covid-19 levels from the summer to the end of the year. “That’s incredible work that the operators and end users have done,” he said.
