Community
28 October, 2023
Rare chopper coup
SKYTEK at Cairns Airport has scored a coup by securing a contract to prepare two rare helicopters for work in Papua New Guinea.
The Super Pumas, officially known as the Airbus Helicopter H215 AS332L2, (formerly Eurocopter AS332), have travelled a long way by ship from Canada to Sydney and then by road on low loaders to Cairns, escorted by pilots.
The aircraft, worth up to $10.5 million each, have been acquired by Hevilift and replace Russian Mil Mi8s which have returned to the northern hemisphere for the war against Ukraine.
The Super Puma, mainly military-grade helicopters, are unusual in Australia. There are believed to be only two – in Victoria where they are used for firefighting.
In Canada they were used to transport crews to and from oil rigs but would be mainly used for aerial crane work in PNG in the oil and gas sector.
Skytek chief executive Alana McKenna said a team of eight workers would spend six weeks upgrading the choppers to include installing the four rotor blades, satellite tracking avionics applicable to Papua New Guinea, certificates of registration and airworthiness and a repaint in the livery of Hevilift.
She said the second Super Puma would be reconditioned over the next six months.
“The team is very excited. We’ve recruited an experienced engineer and the owner (managing director Jan Booij) also has experience with the aircraft,” Ms McKenna said.
She said it would be great opportunity for all the staff to work on the aircraft.
Mr Booij said after a 2014 fatal accident involving the Super Puma, they were grounded for passenger transport.
But, he said, due to demand, they had been brought back to life for firefighting and aerial cranework as opposed to passenger transport.
Mr Booij said the helicopter was mainly designed for military use, but the L2 version was adapted for civilian use. It had a 4.2-4.6 tonne lifting ability.
He said there were about 20 in Canada and 4-5 in Vietnam.
Ms McKenna said Skytek was expanding its capabilities of servicing and maintaining helicopters from the usual fare of Bell 412s and 212s to Augusta AW139s.
“Skytek will be working alongside Babcock in our Cairns facility to complete modifications to their two new AW139 airframes in early 2024,” she said.
Ms McKenna said Skytek was at capacity at Cairns Airport with the helicopter hangar full. Four aircraft were currently in production with others parked on the tarmac while the fixed wing hangar was also full.
“We need more space. We are at capacity here and at the fixed wing hangar,” she said.
“Skytek has an application in for a grant for government funding under the Industry Partnerships Program to assist with funding for a new larger facility to help us with capacity and growth. There is no outcome as of yet.”
