OREANDA-NEWS. April 14, 2015. UTair – Helicopter Services, part of UTair Group, and a branch of BGP Inc., China National Petroleum Corporation has entered the active phase of exploration works in Tajikistan as part of a cooperation agreement valid until the end of 2017.

During the joint implementation of this project UTair – Helicopter Services light multipurpose Airbus Helicopters AS 350 and AS 355 will be used for at least 800 hours of aerial operations. An AS 350 helicopter will be used to perform airlift of special equipment and portable drilling units to Bokhtarsky, Tajikistan’s largest oilfield. Regular transportation of work crews and food to the site will be performed with an AS 355 helicopter which can also be used for evacuation of personnel in case of emergency. To maintain continuous helicopter operations in a mountainous terrain, UTair – Helicopter Services will secure the uninterrupted availability of two aircrews and two technical experts.

“We are pleased that our order portfolio has been complemented with such a large scale project and that another large international oil and gas company, China National Petroleum Corporation, has joined our client roster,” said UTair – Helicopter Services President Alexey Vinogradov. “The choice of UTair Group, and UTair – Helicopter Services in particular, as the main contractor for aviation works in this case once again confirms UTair's reputation as one of the leaders on global market for helicopter services. We hope that our partnership in this project will be successful and will expand in the future.”

UTair – Helicopter Services has decades of experience performing a wide range of specialized helicopter operations, including works of significant complexity, for the largest companies of oil and gas industry, its most established customer base. UTair helicopters are used to deliver large-sized cargo, transport passengers to remote locations and perform VIP flight operations, carry out forest surveillance and visual survey works, complete transport and construction works, pipeline and power line surveillance, medical evacuations and search and rescue operations.

UTair Group is the world’s largest helicopter operator in terms of fleet size and capacity with more than 350 helicopters of various types, primarily of the Mil and Airbus Helicopters families. UTair helicopters meet customer service needs on four continents. The main customers of UTair helicopter operations in Russia are leading oil and gas companies with which the airline has maintained cooperation for over 40 years.

Since 1991, UTair has been a provider of air transport services for the humanitarian missions of the United Nations, and has been a leading provider since 2001. The capabilities of the UTair Helicopter fleet and its professional teams provide safe, high quality air transport operations of any degree of complexity in all geographical and climatic zones of the world.