OREANDA-NEWS. UTair – Helicopter Services, a part of UTair Group, has begun aerial survey operations in Mirny, Yakutia to support for geological prospecting and exploration as ordered by the State Engineering University of Novosibirsk.

Operations will be performed with an H125 helicopter, previously known as the AS350 B3, with external load capacity. The H125 is manufactured by Airbus Helicopters and has excellent performance characteristics and low operational costs. To date, UTair Helicopters maintains 17 such helicopters in its fleet.

During the flights, topographical relief surveys will be conducted. To perform this kind of survey, a controlled flight speed of no more than 90 kmh must be maintained, two times slower than the normal cruise speed for a helicopter of this type. The survey will also be conducted at the minimum allowed altitude, allowing the lowest point of the sounding balloon to be as low as 35 meters above surveyed objects.

President of UTair – Helicopter Services Alexey Vinogradov said that flight crews have extensive experience in performing such unique operations as aerial assembly of Olympic objects, transportation of oversized cargo over long distances and providing support for aerial broadcasting of sporting events, including the ХХII Winter Olympics and Formula-1 Grand Prix in Sochi. “I am certain that for these aerial works UTair – Helicopters, the largest provider of helicopter services in Russia, will deliver quality results in the performance of the mission,” Vinogradov noted.

UTair Group is the world’s largest helicopter operator by fleet size and capacity with more than 340 helicopters of various types, primarily of the Mil and Airbus Helicopters families. UTair helicopters serve customers on four continents. For over 40 years UTair has maintained cooperation with leading Russian oil and gas companies, who continue to constitute the airline's main portfolio of customers for helicopter operations.

Since 1991, UTair has provided air transport services for the humanitarian missions of the United Nations and has remained the largest air transport service provider for the UN since 2001. The capabilities of the UTair fleet and the professionalism of its crews guarantee safe, high quality air transport operations of any degree of complexity in all geographical and climate zones of the world.