FLIGHT

Recommendations

Info

AUSTRALIA SPECIAL REPORT Robinson rotorcraft account for more than half of Australia’s helicopter fleet �� place at Avalon airport in Geelong, Victoria from 26 February to 3 March. The country’s booming resources sector has helped swell the ranks of helicopters in Australia significantly in the past few years, with fleet numbers expected to continue to rise despite warnings of a slowdown in the resources sector. Some 60% of the country’s helicopter fleet is located in the resources-rich states of the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia. This year, HNZ Group – formerly Canadian Helicopters – will put into service three new AgustaWestland AW109SP helicopters on marine transfer flights for resources giant Rio Tinto in Western Australia. HNZ has been providing services to Rio Tinto from its Karratha, Western Australia base since 1992. Under a new 10-year contract which starts in May, the AW109SPs will replace two Eurocopter EC145s which currently serve Rio Tinto’s iron ore carriers at Dampier and Cape Lambert ports. Meanwhile, CHC Helicopters operates more than 30 rotorcraft in Australia in the resources, search and rescue and emergency services sectors. Its biggest contract in the resources sector is a five-year A$300 million ($313 million) deal, with possible contract extensions pushing it to A$500 million, with Woodside Energy which began in June 2011. It was believed to be the largest helicopter service contract ever awarded in the country when it was signed in 2010. The deal involves a fleet of 19-seat Eurocopter EC225s and 12-15-seat AgustaWestland AW139s based in Karratha, Exmouth and Broome, Western Australia, serving the northwest shelf oil and gas region. CHC recently moved its headquarters from Adelaide in South Australia to Perth, Western Australia, to be closer to its customers in the state’s resources sector. 38 | Flight International | 19-25 February 2013 Heliwest, which serves a number of sectors including mining and exploration, geosurvey, pipeline and power line survey, emergency response and equipment transport, is building its Australian resources work following considerable success in the resources industry in Papua New Guinea. SUPPORT CENTRE At the end of 2012, Eurocopter established a support centre in Perth specifically to cater for the state’s growing fleet. Eurocopter says more than 25 17-19-seat Super Puma-family helicopters are in service in the oil and gas industry in Western Australia’s northwest shelf region, in airlift supply and personnel transport operations. Some 60% of the country’s helicopter fleet is located in the resources-rich states of the Northern Territory Eurocopter expects the fleet to grow significantly during the next three to four years. The centre also supports customers not involved in the resources industry including the Western Australia Police, which has been operating Eurocopter aircraft for more than 25 years, recently putting a new AS365N3+ into service. But Australia’s helicopter sector is by no means all about the resources industry, with about 30% of the fleet deployed in the agricultural sector, primarily in mustering, states the AHIA. The sector uses light helicopters, mainly Robinson types, and despite the short working year in mustering, the fleet flies more hours annually than the rest of the fleet put together, says Rich. At the same time, expanding search and rescue and helicopter medical services operations are also contributing to the strong growth. Australian Helicopters, for example, operates 18 single- and multi-engined helicopters on emergency medical services, search and rescue, surveillance, civil and border protection and marine pilot transfer services throughout the country. In fiscal 2011-2012, pistons made up more than 60% of the Australian fleet, with Robinson helicopters accounting for just over half of the total – 531 R22s and 467 R44s. The multi-engined fleet grew 7% during fiscal 2011-2012, with the Bell 412, Kawasaki BK117, Sikorsky S-76, Eurocopter AS332 and AgustaWestland AW139 topping the list. Of the 2,000-plus helicopters registered, more than 200 are multi-engined types. AHIA expects the multi-engined fleet in particular to experience strong growth on the back of the resources sector, predicting the multi-engined fleet could treble to more than 750 helicopters in the next seven years. PRESSURE POINTS Based on current growth rates, Rich says Australia’s total helicopter fleet could grow to 3,000 in about six years or 4,000 within 11 years. Despite its growth, the collapse of the HAA in 2008 left the Australian helicopter sector without a representative industry body. The HAA, formed in 1984, collapsed largely because of a change in its business model, with the association employing salaried staff, and the global financial crisis. But with the realisation the growing sector needed a body to tackle a number of “pressure points obstructing development”, says Rich, the AHIA was set up to tackle skills shortages and training and regulatory issues. Heliflite flightglobal.com
The HAA, formed in 1984, collapsed largely because of a change in its business model, with the association employing salaried staff, and the global financial crisis. But with the realisation the growing sector needed a body to tackle a number of “pressure points obstructing development”, says Rich, the AHIA was set up to tackle skills shortages and training and regulatory issues. “Agencies such as CASA need our help when planning to regulate new technology” ROB RICH Founder, Australian Helicopter Industry Association Skills shortages are particularly apparent in instruction and maintenance, says AHIA inaugural president and former Bell Helicopter sales executive Peter Crook. The lack of instructors is set to worsen, particularly with the new Australian army and navy pilot training programme – the Helicopter Aircrew Training System – likely to draw on limited instructor resources. A growing multi-engined fleet is also likely to impact the skills shortages in engineering fields, particularly licensed aircraft maintenance engineers. The helicopter sector also needs to be part of regulatory changes and the AHIA aims to be the sector’s voice and ensure regulations are right for the local industry. “Agencies such as CASA need our help when planning to regulate new technology heading our way,” says Rich. He points out there are about half a dozen notices of proposed rulemaking which will impact charter operations, crew rostering, performance standards and helideck standards. The AHIA aims to promote the local helicopter industry by working with governments, regulatory bodies and the community to ensure it is a safe, efficient and viable industry able to meet the needs of customers by pursuing global best practice, says Rich. CASA says there have been “notable improvements” in helicopter safety during the Heliwest is building its Australian resources work flightglobal.com past decade, but Australian Transport Safety Bureau statistics show that, while accounting for about 13% of the Australian civil fleet, helicopters were involved in 36% of all general aviation accidents in the past 10 years. Among the AHIA’s objectives are: promoting safe helicopter operations; establishing an open productive working relationship with CASA; developing an exchange of information among helicopter owners, users, operators, pilots, engineers and support industries; making representations to governments at all levels; establishing an exchange of information with other associations; and promoting new helicopter services to the public. The association also aims to promote its capabilities to the wider international community, particularly countries in the Asia-Pacific region, where helicopter numbers are increasing. ROTORTECH CONFERENCE Participation at the Avalon show will help it achieve this. The AHIA, thanks to sponsorship from Avalon organisers Aerospace Australia, will hold a series of seminars and conferences at the show to promote the local helicopter industry. The association will also hold a Rotortech 2013 conference at Sydney’s Darling Harbour in October, focusing on helicopter marine pilot transfer and offshore resource industry activity, running alongside the Pacific International Maritime Exposition. “This is a wonderful opportunity to promote ourselves as best we can,” says Rich. Changes in the industry and technology mean the AHIA will have a wider remit than the HAA, which primarily represented pilots. Rich says: “In the past, this suited the needs of an industry then operating relatively unsophisticated rotorcraft, where logistic and maintenance support requirements were minimal. Today, more expensive and technically advanced helicopters are coming into service and the logistical and technical support industry has developed substantially due to the increasing number of civilian and military heavy helicopters.” � Heliwest AUSTRALIA SPECIAL REPORT REGULATION Air of discontent After decades of controversy, new civil aviation regulations should finally come into effect this year, but not everyone is happy EMMA KELLY PERTH his year is set to be a particularly significant Tone in the history of Australian civil aviation regulations, with the country’s long-running regulatory reform programme nearing a conclusion, according to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). The completion of new safety regulations, with comprehensive implementation schedules developed for each part, should go through in 2013 – or that is the plan at least. Australia’s regulatory reform programme has not been a happy tale, with the process dating back more than 20 years. During that time, it has been shrouded in controversy, with industry concerns over delays and the lack of consultation, harmonisation and simplification. “While the need to reform Australia’s aviation safety regulations is widely supported, progress was often disrupted and resources refocused on other activities,” says CASA. The process has been put on hold numerous times following “significant structural and governance changes, changing circumstances, and industry input and differing approaches to reform”, it adds. GAINING MOMENTUM Since 2009, the programme has gained momentum, with the government’s Aviation White Paper released that year calling for the reforms to be completed by 2011, with additional resources provided to expedite the drafting of new regulations, including the creation of an aviation safety regulatory development taskforce. Obviously the 2011 target was not met, but despite numerous promises, hurdles and false starts, the authority believes the end is in sight. “CASA remains particularly mindful that it cannot ‘ram through’ these changes; the process must take account of the capacity for industry to take on these new standards and allow for the legislative drafting and parliamentary approval process. That said, CASA is dedicated to maintaining its continued high level of energy to see this process finalised,” it says. Australia’s current Civil Aviation Regulations are old and in some cases outdated, says CASA director of aviation safety, John McCormick. “Many were first drafted more than 30 years ago and the origins of some go back even further. �� 19-25 February 2013 | Flight International | 39
Page 1 and 2: HORNET DILEMMA AUSTRALIANS IN TWO M
Page 3 and 4: VOLUME 182 NUMBER 5378 forced to sl
Page 5 and 6: ��
Page 7 and 8: flightglobal.com How the West won U
Page 9 and 10: flightglobal.com Turmoil as probe r
Page 11 and 12: Eurocopter has joined the growing n
Page 13 and 14: United Aircraft flightglobal.com Cr
Page 15 and 16: flightglobal.com AIR TRANSPORT Out
Page 17 and 18: flightglobal.com UK reviews decisio
Page 19 and 20: The Middle East Business Aviation A
Page 21 and 22: flightglobal.com Fruits of freedom
Page 23 and 24: flightglobal.com Rolls-Royce aims t
Page 25: entry into service,” says Trent X
Page 28 and 29: COMMERCIAL ENGINES LEAP OF FAITH CF
Page 30 and 31: &� ��
Page 32 and 33: AUSTRALIA SPECIAL REPORT FIGHTING C
Page 34 and 35: Canberra intends to convert 12 Supe
Page 36 and 37: AUSTRALIA SPECIAL REPORT ��
Page 40 and 41: AUSTRALIA SPECIAL REPORT ��
Page 42 and 43: STRAIGHT&LEVEL From yuckspeak to ta
Page 44 and 45: There’s something NEW about Fligh
Page 46 and 47: TEL +44 (0) 20 8652 4897 FAX +44 (0
Page 48 and 49: HUNDREDS OF JOBS @ flightglobal.com
Page 50 and 51: FIND THE RIGHT MATCH AVIATION RECRU
Page 52: ��

FLIGHT

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?