Equinor awards North Sea helicopter service contracts

Equinor has issued new contracts for crew transportation services from Bergen to its various field centers offshore Norway to CHC Helikopter Service and Lufttransport RW.

The companies will operate a total of five helicopters taking staff to and from fields such as Troll, Gullfaks, Oseberg, Martin Linge, Statfjord, Kvitebjørn and Valemon in the North Sea.

The contract, with a combined value of about NOK 4.3 billion (US$430 million), will start next May and runs through Dec. 31, 2028, with options to extend until the end of 2030.

CHC will operate three Sikorsky S-92 helicopters, two of which are already under contract with Equinor and will be relocated from Sola outside Stavanger to Bergen. In their place, AW189 helicopters will be introduced at Sola.

In addition, CHC will bring in a further S-92 helicopter at the Bergen base.

Lufttransport will operate two AW139 helicopters, which will be replaced by two new AW189 helicopters following their scheduled delivery in 2027.

The company, Equinor added, is approved by Norway’s Civil Aviation Authority to operate both helicopter types, and it flew an AW139 last year for Equinor as a passenger transport helicopter from Bergen to Troll.

“Both operators have already made good progress in hiring pilots and technicians with relevant experience. Training programs are approved by the Civil Aviation Authority Norway," said Ørjan Kvelvane, head of Operations Support at Equinor. "Work on training and phasing-in will continue going forward."

Prior to the contracts taking effect next May, the company will perform checks of resources, facilities, approvals, manuals, personnel, helicopter equipment, HSE work, IT security and physical security.

In 2024, a total of 10,934 passenger flights for the company’s personnel took place from Stavanger, Bergen, Florø, Kristiansund, Brønnøysund and Hammerfest. The Bergen helicopter base at Flesland handles the highest traffic (nearly 5,000 flights last year).

Since the CHC Helikopter Service Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma crashed offshore the island of Turøy in 2016, the Sikorsky S-92 has served as the primary offshore passenger transport helicopter type on the Norwegian shelf, Equinor said.