Bond Air Services

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Bond Air Services
Industry Aviation
Headquarters Gloucestershire Airport, Staverton, Gloucestershire, England
Area served
United Kingdom
Key people
Managing Director, Tim Shattock; CEO David Plester
Parent Babcock International
Website
File:BAS winch aircraft.jpg
An EC135 adapted for specialist hoisting operations for the offshore wind industry

Bond Air Services, a Babcock International Group company, is the largest operator of Air Ambulance aircraft in the UK, they also provide services to UK Police, offshore windfarms and the oil & gas industry. Bond Air Services operates a mixed fleet of light twin helicopters custom designed to perform specific and specialised tasks. It operates from 22 bases around the UK and in Ireland. It has two major maintenance facilities, Staverton and Glasgow.


Bond Air Services headquarters are at Gloucestershire Airport, Staverton, Gloucestershire. This is also home to their EC135 flight simulator.

Bond Helicopters Europe also operates from this location, providing bespoke Design & Completion services. In 2014 they were contracted by the National Police Air Service (NPAS) to upgrade seven EC135T2 helicopters with new camera and mission systems technologies.

In 2015 Bond Air Services took delivery of the UK's first H145 aircraft, ordered the previous year for use with the East Anglian Air Ambulance. They have since taken delivery of another two H145's for the Scottish Ambulance Service. A fourth is scheduled to enter service on behalf of the East Anglian Air Ambulance charity in 2016.

Customers

Bond Air Services operates 23 helicopters, including 18 air ambulance helicopters from 22 bases around the UK and in Ireland. They provide helicopter services for 10 air ambulance charities and the Scottish Ambulance Service. They operate a police support helicopter for Police Scotland and also provide helicopter support for the renewables industry.

Bond Air Services forges long-term customer relationships based on working in partnership and an ability to explore a range of innovative ownership and finance models to meet with individual requirements.


Services

Bond Air Services works in partnership with customers and aircraft manufacturers.

Their Design and Completions service creates bespoke aircraft and accessories designed for highly specialised and mission-critical roles – from transporting infants to operating on live high-voltage wires.

Their training facility includes a EC135 training simulator (Level III FTD).

Bond Air Services was the first operator to provide night Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) with East Anglian Air Ambulance charity in 2013.


Prince William

In 2014, it was announced that Prince William, Duke of Cambridge would take on a full-time role as a pilot with Bond Air Services, based at Cambridge Airport. Although a qualified military pilot able to operate as a Sea King captain, William needed a civil pilot's license and further training before starting operations for the East Anglian Air Ambulance. The Duke started operational flights on 13 July 2015. His wage is donated to charity. [1]

Incident

On 29 November 2013 G-SPAO, an EC-135T-2 operated by Bond on behalf of Police Scotland, crash-landed onto the roof of a pub in Glasgow, killing all three people on board and six in the building.[2][3]

References

  1. Britain's Prince William to return to work as air ambulance pilot, ABC News Online, 8 August 2014
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External links