Canadian Helicopters
Canadian Helicopters, formerly CHC Helicopter Canadian operations, operates 112 aircraft from 26 bases across Canada which provides a broad range of helicopter services to include: emergency medical services, infrastructure maintenance, utilities, oil and gas, forestry, mining and construction, and helicopter transportation services. CH also operates three flight schools and provides third party repair and maintenance services. Canadian Helicopters also provides helicopter service in the United States in support of specialty operations including forest fire suppression activities and geophysical exploration programs.
History
Commercial helicopter flying began in British Columbia in the summer of 1947. Three former Royal Canadian Air Force officers, pilots Carl Agar and Barney Bent, and engineer Alf Stringer, were operating a fixed-wing charter company, Okanagan Air Services Ltd., out of Penticton. In July 1947 they raised enough money to purchase a Bell 47-B3 and pay for their flying and maintenance training.Okanagan Air Services moved to Vancouver in 1949, was renamed Okanagan Helicopters Ltd. and, by 1954, had become the largest commercial helicopter operator in the world.
Toronto Helicopters was founded by Len Routledge and Douglas Dunlop. It was a pioneer in air ambulance services in Ontario and the operate helicopters for Ornge.
Sealand Helicopters was founded by Newfoundland businessman Craig Dobbin in February 1977.
In 1987, Dobbin headed a group that purchased Okanagan Helicopters and Toronto Helicopters and merged them with his own company, Sealand Helicopters to form Canadian Helicopters.
Until November 2000, Canadian Helicopters was the domestic operating arm of Canadian Helicopters International, a wholly owned subsidiary of CHC Helicopter Corporation. In 2000, Canadian Helicopters was divested to form Canadian Helicopters, Inc which was then renamed in 2012 as HNZ Group, Inc..
As of September 2019, Canadian Helicopters has two air operator's certificates. The first, 18373, is Canadian Helicopters Limited - Hélicoptères Canadiens Limitée trading as Canadian Helicopters Offshore in Enfield, Nova Scotia with two helicopters in Goffs. The second, 11988, is used for the rest of the fleet in Les Cèdres, Quebec.
Bases
The following are bases in Canada:- Alberta - Western Head Office Edmonton International Airport, Fort McMurray International Airport, Grande Prairie Airport
- British Columbia - Fort Nelson Airport, Fort St. John Airport, Penticton Regional Airport, Smithers Airport, Northwest Regional Airport Terrace-Kitimat
- Manitoba - Portage la Prairie/Southport Airport
- New Brunswick - Fredericton International Airport
- Newfoundland and Labrador - Bishop's Falls, Goose Bay Airport, Pasadena
- Northwest Territories - Inuvik Airport, Norman Wells Airport, Yellowknife Airport
- Nova Scotia - Halifax Stanfield International Airport
- Nunavut - Cambridge Bay Airport, Hall Beach Airport, Iqaluit Airport
- Quebec - Corporate Head Office: Montreal,, Chevery Airport, La Grande Rivière Airport, Sept-Îles Airport
- Yukon - Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport
Heliports
Canadian Helicopters operates the following heliports:- Chibougamau Heliport, Chibougamau, Quebec
- Montréal/Les Cèdres Heliport, Montreal, Quebec
- Sagard Heliport, Sagard, Quebec
- Smithers Heliport, Smithers, British Columbia
Fleet
As of September 2019, Canadian Helicopters has the following aircraft registered with Transport Canada:Aircraft | No. of aircraft | Variants | Notes |
Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil | 59 | AS350B, AS350 B2, AS350 B3, AS350 BA | 52 listed by Transport Canada as Aerospatiale AS350 and seven as Eurocopter AS350. Single engine, listed at Canadian Helicopters as an Airbus |
Aerospatiale AS 355 | 8 | AS 355-N | Twin engine, listed at Canadian Helicopters as an Airbus |
Bell 206 | 15 | 206B, LongRanger | Single engine |
Bell 212 | 10 | 212 | Twin engine |
Bell 407 | 5 | 407 | Single engine |
Bell 412 | 1 | 412EP | Twin engine |
Eurocopter EC120 | 4 | EC120B Colibri | Single engine, listed at Canadian Helicopters as an Airbus |
Sikorsky S-61 | 3 | S-61N | Twin engine |
Sikorsky S-76 | 5 | S-76A++, S-76C+, S-76D | Twin engine |
Sikorsky S-92 | 2 | S-92A | Twin engine. |
The two Sikorsky S-92 are listed by Transport Canada as being registered to Canadian Helicopters Limited - Hélicoptères Canadiens Limitée trading as Canadian Helicopters Offshore and all others are registered in Quebec.
The Transport Canada list also shows an Aerospatiale AS350D, an Aerospatiale AS 355F1, a Bell 212, a Bell 206B, a Robinson R22 BETA, and two Sikorsky S-76A all with cancelled certificates.