Bristow has taken delivery of Eurocopter's 100th EC225 worldwide. "We are looking forward to the introduction of this, our 18th EC225, increasing our capacity to serve the oil and gas market. This aircraft together with the two delivered in June are already contracted to a customer in Malaysia." said Bristow svp commercial Mark Duncan.

Bristow was the launch customer in the oil and gas market for the EC225 when the type was introduced into service in 2005 as well as being the launch customer for its predecessor, the AS332L in the early 1980s.

More than 50,000 hours have been logged by Bristow's EC225s, representing approximately one-third of all flight time accumulated by this helicopter type worldwide. Bristow and Eurocopter also have a Memorandum of Agreement in place for acquisition of the EC175 for which again Bristow will be the launch customer, underscoring the special relationship and partnership between the two companies.

Bristow Group provides helicopter services to the offshore energy industry worldwide. The company has a major presence in the US Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea, along with operations in most of the other major offshore oil and gas producing regions of the world – including Alaska, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia and Trinidad.

The landmark EC225 was supplied in the oil and gas configuration, but it can be used by Bristow in other missions due to the multi-role helicopter's designed-in operational flexibility.

The helicopter is the latest generation of the Super Puma/Cougar family, which has flown more than four million flight hours. The EC225 can accommodate up to 19 passengers for offshore crew change flights.