Demand for Bristow Group's offshore helicopter services is continuing to see steady growth despite a sharp downturn elsewhere in the aviation industry.

Writing for the Independent, Aerospace International deputy editor Tim Robinson reports that with its diverse fleet, the company is well positioned to serve the offshore oil and gas industry in an array of operating conditions.

While its Eurocopter EC225s, Eurocopter Super Pumas, Eurocopter Tigers and Sikorsky S-92s have proved integral to operations in the North Sea, Ghana, Australia and Mexico, smaller crafts such as Bell 206s have been put to use in fields in the Mexican Gulf.

"The company also has options on two of the new Bell/Agusta BA609 Tiltrotors, which could be very useful in the future for reaching new oil fields that are further away from civilisation," says Robinson.

And it is no longer ex-military pilots that are manning these helicopters, with training courses run by Bristow increasingly populated by men and women from a civil background.

The Bristow Academy offers both US and European certification courses, covering specialisms such as mountain flying, external load and night flying.

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