Bristow Group is to take five Airbus Helicopters H160 medium-twins on lease from Milestone Aviation to support oil and gas operations in Nigeria.

Disclosed at the Dubai air show, the agreement will see four aircraft delivered this month, with the remaining example to follow in September 2026.

H160 Bristow-c-Airbus Helicopters

Source: Airbus Helicopters

Medium-twins are likely to displace S-76Ds on Nigerian operation

“Bringing these new H160 helicopters into our Africa operations further enhances our ability to deliver safe, reliable, and efficient services to our valued customers in the energy sector,” says Chris Bradshaw, chief executive, Bristow Group.

It has not revealed whether the aircraft are for replacement or growth, but Bristow already operates the same number of Sikorsky S-76Ds in Nigeria.

Bristow will be the second major oil and gas operator to introduce the H160 after US-based PHI, which flies the new medium-twin in the Gulf of Mexico.

Milestone placed an order for six H160s in October 2020.

Dominic Perry is Aerospace Editor, Europe contributing extensively to flightglobal.com. Although specialising in the coverage of the helicopter industry, he has written on most topics in aerospace – be they commercial, defence or business aviation. In addition, there has been an increasing focus on the decarbonisation of the industry and zero-emission flight initiatives. He also helps to edit Flight International.View full Profile

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