Helicopter companies including the three main North Sea operators – Bond owners Avincis Group, Bristow Group and CHC – are joining forces to form a new international trade body for the offshore aviation transport sector.
Heli Offshore, the result of a joint operators review safety seminar in Aberdeen last week, will focus on “the timely open sharing information” amongst offshore flight operators.
Duncan Trapp, vice president of safety and quality at CHC Helicopter, revealed the formation of the new body and said it was an example of the industry “throwing off the shackles of competitive advantage” to collaborate on safety.
The new group, which will be based in London, essentially expands the European Helicopter Operators Committee (EHOC) to include a wider membership.
Mr Trapp said: “It is a global membership – all the main helicopter operators across the world are now going to be represented by this trade association.”
The body will have its official launch next month in July.
“It shows that we are committed to working together by funding the association and support that by lending subject matter experts to staff it,” he added.
The joint operators review was launched by the three North Sea helicopter firms last year in the wake of the fatal Super Puma crash off Sumburgh.
Their aim was to “deepen their commitment to share best practices and consistently operate at the highest possible level of safety”.
The firms said that they would “reach out to other helicopter operators to encourage them to join the review group”.
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