OREANDA-NEWS. July 30, 2007. UTair (UTair Aviation JSC) has sent a Mi-26 helicopter to Greece, with a flight crew and technical personnel on board, to help fight large forest fires. The helicopter is equipped with a water discharge device that can contain up to 15 tonnes of water.

The helicopter arrived in Greece,where it is currently based on Peloponnese Peninsula, but will later be transferred to the Eleusis base located outside Athens.

UTair has significant experience carrying out such complicated operations outside Russia. The company’s helicopters and the crews of its subsidiaries UTair South Africa and UTair Europe have been involved in many firefighting operations in Africa as well as in Europe. UTair’s helicopter fleet and high professional qualities of its flight crews and technical personnel allow the company to help to establish a global firefighting system. UTair has plans for business in America in the future as well.

UTair is the largest helicopter operator in Russia and an acknowledged leader of the global helicopter business. It has about 180 helicopters, including over twenty Mi-26s, the world’s largest helicopters, with a lifting capacity of 20 tonnes. Dozens of UTair helicopters are involved in export operations worldwide, from North America to South Africa. The company expects a 25 percent increase in revenue from export helicopter services in 2007.