LAGOS—Nigerian indigenous aircraft charter operator, OAS Helicopters    has partnered the    United Arab Emirates helicopter company, Abu Dhabi Aviation, ADA, to provide Helicopter services to Nigeria oil and gas sector of the economy.

This partnership was kick started, weekend with the arrival of ADA’s 15 Seater full offshore equipped helicopter AW-139 with registration number A6-AWH at OAS’ new Terminal   NAFBASE Airport, Port Harcourt . The ADA and OAS’ relationship had been undergoing technical and legal structuring since 2015.

According to OAS Helicopters Managing Director and CEO, Capt Evarest Nnaji,    “ the practical kick off of the partnership, which is landmarked by the arrival and the physical presence of ADA crew and equipment, is one investment step the Nigeria aviation will enjoy moving forward, especially in the area of oil and gas aircraft support services”.

“We looked at ADA’s capacity to play at the highest echelons in the oil and gas aviation support, and their ability and willingness to build and transfer know-how in all the other international environments where they operate, and concluded that not only is ADA valuable to huge business profitability, but that they are equally reputable for reliable and consistent long term business relationship. Their safety record, volume of investment and ability to deliver excellent services even in the most difficult environment speaks for itself.”

Speaking also, Abu Dhabi Aviation’s AFB Contracts manager, Kevin Den Hertog,    said “ADA had always wanted to invest in Nigeria but had searched and waited to find a reliable and resilient partner which eventually clicked with OAS’ history and ability to remain firm in operation for over ten years despite daunting challenges. With the level of implementation on the proposed business plan so far, we are quite confident that OAS and ADA partnership will enrich the Nigeria oil and gas aviation”.

In the relationship, Abu Dhabi Aviation is coming with long years of successful oil and gas helicopter support experiences which started back in 1976 and has developed to over 60 aircraft in active operation and over 1,000,000 flight hours supporting oil and gas exploration throughout the countries of the Middle East, Brazil, Spain, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand.