CHC Helicopter has been awarded a contract by oil and gas company Woodside and other operators in the North West Shelf and North West Cape regions of Australia, providing passenger transfer flights, medevac and SAR services for four customers from bases in the Pilbara region.

The contract will commence in July 2019 and will provide more than 10 daily flights for Woodside, Jadestone Energy, Vermilion Energy and BHP as part of a shared service from bases at Karratha, Learmonth and Onslow airports.

“We have provided services to customers in the North West Shelf since March 2011 and we are honoured to be part of this innovation in passenger transfer services in Australia,” says CHC president and CEO Karl Fessenden. “I would like to thank Woodside and other operators in the region for putting their trust in us to deliver the largest shared aviation service model in Australia's offshore oil and gas industry.”

The five-year contract also has two options for two-year extensions. CHC is expecting to fly more than 100,000 passengers a year to and from their place of work, with Woodside set to utilise the majority of flight capacity. CHC's team will fly and maintain two AW139 medium helicopters and two AW189 super mediums to support the service.

CHC has committed to supporting local and Aboriginal employment and training by making apprenticeship opportunities available to the local community over the period of the contract, and roles will be filled by local employees where possible.