Babcock has set up a new national air operations cell at its Regional Support Centre in Adelaide to assist with its forward planning and daily operations.
The new cell supports Babcock’s 12 bases and can track its fleet of 26 helicopters in real time which provide emergency services, search and rescue, law enforcement, surveillance and marine pilot transfer operations across Australia, including into the oil and gas regions of the country’s north-west.
“We are constantly forward planning to identify any potential crewing, aircraft and maintenance issues before they happen,” said John Boag, Babcock’s managing director of onshore and offshore aviation businesses. “Our team covers both aircrew and engineering support, so that they can back up one another and mitigate risk.”
Boag says he has seen an increase in demand for the company’s helicopter transportation for oil and gas and medevac services since opening
a hangar at Darwin Airport in June last year.
“Being proximate to several liquefied natural gas projects means that we are a natural choice. From Darwin, we support oil and gas customers with Sikorsky S-92s to transport passengers, travelling in tandem formation for increased safety.”
In Western Australia, Babcock has recently added an additional AW139 to its fleet to support demand from the resources sector. Its latest AW139 is being prepared to comply with contract and safety requirements before commencing operations shortly.
