Africa’s SonAir resumes commercial flights with Eurocopter EC225s

Africa’s leading oil and gas helicopter operator SonAir has resumed the commercial service with the suspended Eurocopter EC225 helicopters, becoming the first operator to do so.

The operator has successfully performed three flights with two EC225s from Luanda to two offshore platforms.

This development marks a new step in the return-to-service status for the full EC225 fleet worldwide, according to Eurocopter.

SonAir chairman and CEO João Andrade said: "The three flights were routine, confirming that the EC225’s service restart is backed by strong safety measures that give confidence to our clients."

SonAir operates a total of 11 EC225s at its Luanda, Angola operating base, with nine designed for crew-change missions for offshore oil and gas platforms.

The company’s Eurocopter fleet also includes four AS332 L2 and three AS365 N3 helicopters.

Eurocopter president and CEO Guillaume Faury said: "Eurocopter remains fully committed to supporting this major oil and gas industry service provider in performing its very demanding missions."

Eurocopter’s two EC225s were grounded following two offshore incidents, linked to the cracking of a shaft that drives the main rotor blades, off Aberdeen and Shetland in the UK in 2012.

Earlier this month, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approved gear box technical solution proposed by Eurocopter for its EC225.

The EC225 is an 11t category rotorcraft in Eurocopter’s Super Puma family and has to date logged more than 300,000 flight hours in service.

The rotorcraft is deployed in civil, military and parapublic operations that range from offshore transportation and cargo airlift to search-and-rescue (SAR) duties.

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Image: Eurocopter noted that this development marks a new step in the return-to-service status for the full EC225 fleet worldwide. Photo: courtesy of Eurocopter, Anthony Pecchi.