Vasteras-based HeliAir Sweden has taken delivery of an AS350B3E with a floor window, cargo hook, electric mirror and air filter. The aircraft will fulfil a number of roles alongside the operator's EC120 and MD500 fleet. “We didn't have to do any additional work on it other than paint it in our company colours. It was a 'plug and play' situation which was very good for us,” states accountable manager and CEO Aram Rubinstein.

“We had a team from England repainting our aircraft. Because we keep on changing aircraft, we keep them busy. All our aircraft are now in the same livery.”

He is looking to sell another of his MD500s, leaving the company with just one. “The pilots like the remaining one so we will be keeping it. We have had customers coming to inspect the other one.

“We are considering purchasing at least one or maybe up to four B3s. That will probably happen prior to the summer holidays, if everything goes well. It depends on tenders and we are expecting answers in the next 20 days. Our instructor Joel has completed the type rating training. We have flown the aircraft a bit and it works perfectly.”

He admits that there are a few question marks surrounding the future of his EC120s. “I am not going to say that I regret buying the ones that we have, because we have a lot of power line inspections that they are very suitable for,” he explains. “However, they have a very small niche and we cannot do much more than we are currently doing with them. They are good for power inspections and light lifting jobs, but we are not planning to invest in any more of them. Airbus has discontinued production of them. Right now in Sweden there are a lot of acquisitions of used EC120s, but that is on the private VIP market, buying old Spanish police helicopters and refurbishing them.”

The operator has just finished working on its own top saw for trimming trees, so that the power lines are safe if the trees fall. “It is a huge success, and we have been able to increase production by up to 55 per cent, which is a step in the right direction. It is carried out using the MD500, but we will be transitioning to the EC120 after some pilot training,” he concludes.