OREANDA-NEWS Sikorsky today continues its celebration of the S-92® helicopter fleet’s one million flight hour milestone in the North Sea Region, the largest S-92 operating area in the world. Sikorsky is a Lockheed Martin Company (NYSE: LMT).

Celebrating Monday in Aberdeen, Scotland, and Tuesday in Stavanger, Norway, Sikorsky executives thanked operators and customers for their dedication and trust in the S-92 helicopter to transport oil and gas workers. The S-92 helicopter, with an accident rate less than 1/10th of the U.S. Civil Multi-Turbine engine helicopter rate, sets a high industry standard for safety and reliability.  Of the S-92 fleet’s first one million flight hours, 87 percent were flown in support of offshore oil missions with a greater than 95 percent availability rate.

“We are proud to recognize our S-92 customers and to thank the operators in this region who fly more than 90 Sikorsky S-92 helicopters,” said Sikorsky President Dan Schultz, adding that, “Recently we’ve seen a 20 percent increase in operational rates for S-92s overall, and Sikorsky continues to expand our support capabilities to our customers around the world, to include forward stocking locations in Aberdeen and Stavanger.  Our commitment at Sikorsky is to deliver a safe and reliable aircraft everywhere, every time.”

Sikorsky’s newest Forward Stocking Location, located at Aberdeen Airport Dyce will begin operations by the end of the third quarter. Sikorsky will also expand its current Forward Stocking Location at the Stavanger Airport by the end of the year. Lockheed Martin has invested in three Sikorsky FSLs world-wide and will continue positioning inventory closer to operators.

Since 2004, Sikorsky has delivered more than 275 S-92 helicopters. Eleven nations fly the dual-engine, S-92 helicopter for their head of state missions. In May 2014, The U.S. Navy selected Sikorsky for the U.S. Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program, using the S-92 platform.