Bristow Norway AS (formerly Norsk Helikopter) is a Norwegian helicopter company that transports crew to oil installations in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. It has headquarters in

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

and has additional operations out of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, Florø, and Hammerfest. The company operates a fleet of 24 Sikorsky S92 helicopters and has 420 employees. The company has contracts with all the oil companies operating on the Norwegian shelf for crew change flights. In addition it operates SAR aircraft out of Ekofisk and Hammerfest.

History

Offshore helicopter transport in Norway was traditionally dominated by Helikopter Service. By the late 1980s three competitors were established, Lufttransport, Mørefly and Braathens Helikopter, but by 1992 Helikopter Service had bought all three. Both the authorities and the oil companies wanted multiple operators to stimulate competition. Norsk Helikopter was incorporated in 1993 to fill this gap. It was initially owned as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between Andreas Ugland and Bristow Helicopter, with the Norwegian shipping billionaire owning 51 percent. This resulted in a close technical cooperation with Bristow's other helicopter companies. The company was established with a fleet of Aerospatiale AS332L Super Pumas.Olsen-Hagen: 90 The company's first and main base is Stavanger Airport, Sola. The airline expanded to

Bergen Airport, Flesland Bergen Airport (; ), alternatively Bergen Flesland Airport or simply Flesland Airport, is an international airport located at Flesland in the city and municipality of Bergen, Vestland, Norway. Opened in 1955, it is the second-busiest airport i ...

, in 1999 and then to

Brønnøysund Airport, Brønnøy Brønnøysund () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the administrative centre of Brønnøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The town has a population (2024) of 5,093 and a population density of . It is also a List of for ...

in 2002. A base opened at Hammerfest Airport on 11 November 2004 in conjunction with the construction at Snøhvit. Norsk Helikopter became the first European operator of the

Sikorsky S-92 The Sikorsky S-92 is an American twin-engine medium-lift helicopter built by Sikorsky Aircraft for the civil and military helicopter markets. The S-92 was developed from the Sikorsky S-70 helicopter and has similar parts such as flight control ...

A in 2005. The same year it bought the land-helicopter operator Lufttransport. This lasted for three years. In 2008 the Ugland Group sold its shares to Bristow, in a deal which secured them full ownership of Lufttransport.Olsen-Hagen: 91 Norsk Helikopter subsequently changed their name to Bristow Norway in April 2009.Olsen-Hagen: 92 The company subsequently won several important contracts. In 2009 it started flying out of Hammerfest for StatoilHydro and

Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...

. The following year it won an important contract for the Draugen and Sleipner fields. The same year it bought its first Eurocopter EC225 for all-weather search and rescue. The 'Norsk Helikopter' brand was retained by Ugland, who sold it to Avincis Group (since purchased by

Babcock International Babcock International Group plc is a British aerospace, defence and nuclear engineering services company based in London, England. It specialises in managing complex assets and infrastructure. Although the company has civil contracts, its main b ...

Fleet

* 24 Sikorsky S-92A

Accidents and incidents

* On 28 February 2024, a

carrying six passengers crashed into the ocean outside of

Øygarden Øygarden is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is an island municipality located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Midhordland, stretching along the west coast of the coun ...

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

while on a rescue training mission for

Equinor Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. It is primarily a petroleum company, petroleum company operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renew ...

. Five of the six people on board survived.

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control 1993 establishments in Norway Airlines established in 1993 Airlines of Norway Helicopter airlines