Barley 24 hours after indigenous carrier, Medview Airlines went to the market for listing, another indigenous operator, Omni-Blu Aviation Limited, has sealed partnership with Omni Helicopters International S.A. of Brazil to form Omni Helicopters Nigeria.
The joint venture is created to meet the demand for helicopter services in Nigeria’s oil and gas market.
According to the deal, the Brazilian firm is expected to provide technical expertise, access to aircraft and training of personnel.
Explaining more on the new alliance, the Managing Director of Omni-Blu, Capt. Sunny Adegbuyi, said the firms had demonstrated confidence in the sector at a time when others were divesting and pulling out of Nigeria.
Before the new deal, Omni-Blu, had two choppers; one for contract services and the other as a backup.
But the arrangement will make OHI S.A who has more than 180 helicopters in its fleet to move a minimum of 10 for the new alliance to take off fully in Nigeria.
Managing Director of Omni-Blu noted that “This alliance is great news for Nigeria and a welcome development for her economy, as well as the aviation and oil and gas sectors. We are delighted to partner one of the world’s best helicopter operators at a critical time for Nigeria’s offshore aviation”.
“We aim to meet the rising demand of this market with unique balance of operational strengths and local content.”
In his comments, the Founder, OHI S.A, Capt. Rui Almeida, said his company would provide technological expertise with focus on local content development.
While revealing that OHI S.A operates between 34,000 and 37,000 hours per year despite the global economic meltdown, he added that “The current situation in Nigeria is similar to the environment we found in Brazil in 2006, when tightening regulations and substantially upgraded demands from oil and gas clients offered opportunities to new entrants”.
“We succeeded by transferring know-how, granting access to assets and empowering local excellence. We are familiar with Nigeria, having operated here in the past, and understand the standards of oil and gas clients, having serviced many of these clients in Brazil already.
