Bristow Norway AS (formerly Norsk Helikopter) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

helicopter company that transports crew to oil installations in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

. It has headquarters in Stavanger and has additional operations out of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

Florø is a town and the administrative centre of the municipality of Kinn, Vestland, Norway. The town was founded by royal decree in 1860 as a ladested on the island of Florelandet, located between the Botnafjorden and Solheimsfjorden. Florø is N ...

, and

Hammerfest Hammerfest (; sme, Hámmerfeasta ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. Hammerfest is the northernmost town in the world with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hammerf ...

. The company operates a fleet of 24 Sikorsky S92 helicopters and has 420 employees. The company has contracts with all the oil companies operating on the Norwegian shelf for crew change flights. In addition it operates SAR aircraft out of Ekofisk and Hammerfest.

History

Offshore helicopter transport in Norway was traditionally dominated by Helikopter Service. By the late 1980s three competitors were established,

Lufttransport Lufttransport is a Norwegian helicopter and fixed-wing airline that operates primarily air ambulance helicopters and planes for the Norwegian and Swedish governments. In addition the airline offers services including surveillance for the Norwegian ...

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and Braathens Helikopter, but by 1992 Helikopter Service had bought all three. Both the authorities and the oil companies wanted multiple operators to stimulate competition. Norsk Helikopter was incorporated in 1993 to fill this gap. It was initially owned as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...

between

Andreas Ugland Andreas Ugland (30 December 1925 – 18 April 2019) was a Norwegian ships engineer and shipowner. He was born in Grimstad to ship owner Johan Milmar Ugland and Sara Lund. He was assigned with the family company Uglands Rederi, and after his fa ...

and Bristow Helicopter, with the Norwegian shipping billionaire owning 51 percent. This resulted in a close technical cooperation with Bristow's other helicopter companies. The company was established with a fleet of Aerospatiale AS332L Super Pumas.Olsen-Hagen: 90 The company's first and main base is Stavanger Airport, Sola. The airline expanded to

Bergen Airport, Flesland Bergen Airport ( nn, Bergen lufthamn; ), alternatively Bergen Flesland Airport or simply Flesland Airport, is an international airport located at Flesland in the city and municipality of Bergen, Vestland, Norway. Opened in 1955, it is the sec ...

, in 1999 and then to Brønnøysund Airport, Brønnøy in 2002. A base opened at Hammerfest Airport on 11 November 2004 in conjunction with the construction at

Snøhvit Snøhvit ''( en, Snow White)'' is the name of a natural gas field in the Norwegian Sea, situated northwest of Hammerfest, Norway. The northern part of the Norwegian Sea is often described as the Barents Sea by offshore petroleum companies. ''Snø ...

. Norsk Helikopter became the first European operator of the Sikorsky S-92A in 2005. The same year it bought the land-helicopter operator

. This lasted for three years. In 2008 the Ugland Group sold its shares to Bristow, in a deal which secured them full ownership of Lufttransport.Olsen-Hagen: 91 Norsk Helikopter subsequently changed their name to Bristow Norway in April 2009.Olsen-Hagen: 92 The company subsequently won several important contracts. In 2009 it started flying out of Hammerfest for

StatoilHydro Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian state-owned multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger. It is primarily a petroleum company, operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renewable energy. I ...

and Eni. The following year it won an important contract for the Draugen and Sleipner fields. The same year it bought its first

Eurocopter EC225 The Airbus Helicopters H225 (previously Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma) is a long-range passenger transport helicopter developed by Eurocopter as the next generation of the civilian Super Puma family. It is a twin-engined aircraft and can carry up ...

for all-weather search and rescue. The 'Norsk Helikopter' brand was retained by Ugland, who sold it to

Avincis Group Babcock International Group plc is a British aerospace, defence and nuclear engineering services company based in London, England. It specialises in managing complex assets and infrastructure. Although the company has civil contracts, its main b ...

(since purchased by

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Fleet

* 24 Sikorsky S-92A

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control 1993 establishments in Norway Airlines established in 1993 Airlines of Norway Helicopter airlines