Helis To Be Used For Offshore Oil Flights, Medevac Ops

AgustaWestland collected a pair contracts this week that added 12 new AW319 helicopters to its order book.

Chevron announced at NBAA 2008 in Orlando, FL it ordered two AW139 medium twin helicopters configured for offshore use. With this order, Chevron will have a total of six AW139s in their fleet.

The AW139s will operate from company heliports at Intracoastal City, Leeville and Venice, LA in support of offshore production and drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Chevron's aircraft operations in the Gulf of Mexico began in 1950 with two helicopters and one floatplane. Today, Chevron fleet comprises of 30 helicopters.

The helicopter manufacturer also announced that Ornge of Ontario, Canada, ordered ten AW139s, with an option for two additional aircraft. The overall contract value is about US$120 million.

The aircraft will be equipped with full aero-medical interiors and be equipped also with a full de-icing system for operation in adverse weather conditions.

Ornge is a charitable organization that coordinates all aspects of Ontario's aero-medical transport system. Ornge operates one of the largest aero medical and critical care land transport medicine programs in North America and currently has more than 300 employees in eight areas of operation. This includes over 200 paramedics, pediatric transport nurses and transport medicine physicians.

Ornge's expertise in transport medicine lies in its ability to serve more than 12 million Ontarians throughout a geographic area of 1 million square kilometers, delivering its scope of services through comprehensive door-to-door acute care aero medical transport. Ornge utilizes over 30 bases across the province, 9 of which are staffed 24 hours, 7 days a week.

FMI: www.agustawestland.com, www.ornge.ca, www.chevron.com