A consortium that includes Richmond-based CHC Helicopters, has won a 25-year contract to provide comprehensive search and rescue services to the U.K. government.
CHC will provide all helicopter operations support, including facilities and crew, to service 11,000 kilometres of coastline and 3.6 million square-kilometres of sea from 12 bases spread from Culdrose in the south of England to Sumburgh in Northern Scotland.
CHC will completely transition the U.K.'s search and rescue operations to a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter fleet and will focus on maintaining its safety record that has half the accident rate of other major international airlines and a third of other major helicopter operators in the region.
The contract will make CHC the world's largest commercial provider of offshore helicopter services with a fleet of more than 270 aircraft operating in 30 countries.
Final details about the contract have yet to be ironed out between the U.K. government and the service consortium that includes Thales, the U.K's second largest defence eletronics systems supplier, Sikorsky Helicopters and the Royal Bank of Scotland.