THE importance of Cork Airport has been illustrated by the fact that offshore helicopter operator NHV Group has secured a contract in Ireland with PSE Kinsale Energy Ltd in support of its decommissioning operations in the Celtic Sea.
That’s according to Niall MacCarthy, Managing Director at Cork Airport who has welcomed the announcement.
Under the contract with NHV, helicopter transfer flights from Cork Airport starting in April will bring personnel to the Stena Spey drilling rig, about 50km off the south coast of Cork performing essential energy-related services.
NHV AS Denmark, NHV’s Danish branch, will be operating the contract. The agreement includes the provision of one Leonardo AW139 helicopter.
PSE Kinsale Energy, a Petronas subsidiary, said last July that the Kinsale offshore gasfields in Ireland had officially ceased production, after more than 40 years online, setting the stage for the decommissioning work to begin
Mr MacCarthy said: ‘The award of this contract demonstrates the importance of Cork Airport, which has remained open throughout the pandemic, for essential services including helicopter flights out to the offshore rigs, as well as vital search and rescue operations.
‘In addition, we continue to facilitate medical emergency and organ transplant operations as well as scheduled commercial flights currently to London Heathrow and Amsterdam hubs. This reflects our diverse range of flight operations..’
Lars Skov, NHV AS said: ‘We are delighted to be partnering with Kinsale Energy on this project and feel confident that its offshore workforce will appreciate our passion for safe and reliable operations.’
