Bristow Group has delayed taking delivery of seven Sikorsky S-76D helicopters until its 2016 financial year, while three of the type already handed over to the operator are yet to enter service.
Detailed in its second-quarter earnings released on 7 November, the aircraft are identified as medium helicopters scheduled for delivery in the period starting April 2015. Previous quarterly stock exchange filings had stated that the rotorcraft were due for handover in the current financial year.
Although Bristow does not identify the helicopter type in question, elsewhere in the SEC document the operator says it is in the process of simplifying the composition of its fleet. Its goal is to reduce the fleet to five types over the next 10 years – the Airbus Helicopters EC225 and EC175, AgustaWestland AW189 and Sikorsky S-92 and S-76D.
Of these, only the 5.3t S-76D is classed by Bristow as a medium-weight helicopter.
Sikorsky
A total of three S-76Ds were received during the final two quarters of the 2014 financial year, says Bristow, “but are not yet operating on revenue service”.
In contrast, the firm received its first AW189 in April, and that helicopter began operating commercial flights from Norwich, UK in late July.
It adds that a moderate increase in its earnings (EBITDAR) for the three months ended 30 September to $112 million, from $108 million a year earlier, was “partially offset by delays in certain new aircraft entering our fleet”. Bristow declines to elaborate on the reasons for the delay to service entry and the remaining deliveries.
Development of the S-76D was delayed by around four years, with the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210S-powered rotorcraft finally achieving certification in October 2012. Production of the S-76C++ had ceased in July that year.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
