UK helicopter operator Bond Helicopters is to launch its offshore department two months early, after securing a controversial North Sea search and rescue contract from BP Exploration. Aberdeen-based Bond Offshore Helicopters plans to start operational flights this week, eight weeks ahead of the 10-year contract start date, with ad hoc charters filling the gap. Bond had been barred from entering the North Sea market for five years after the merger of the former Bond Air Services and Brintel in 1999, but is understood to have been persuaded to re-enter the market by oil companies keen to break the CHC/Offshore Logistics duopoly.
Source: Flight International
