Bristow traces its roots in Africa

In 1960 Bristow acquired Fison-Airwork, primarily a crop spraying company with business in Central America, England and the Sudan. Fison-Airwork was also involved in supporting some of the first oil exploration work in Nigeria, on contract to the Shell D'Arcy development company, and Bristow seized on the opportunity.

In the years that followed, Bristow would divest itself of the crop spraying business and expand the work with Shell in Nigeria.

The impact of the Biafran War
The Nigerian Civil War, or Biafran War, which broke out in 1967, impacted Bristow's operations in the region, as with many other companies operating in Africa. Bristow helped evacuate workers from rigs at the start of the war, reunited them with their families and pets, and flew them to Fernando Po, (Bioko), an island off the west coast of Africa (Bight of Biafra) and now part of Equatorial Guinea. At the time of the war, Bristow had 11 helicopters committed to oil support work, all based at Port Harcourt.

Despite the risks, Bristow managed to keep operating in Nigeria during the war, with a skeleton presence in Lagos and Warri. The war ended in 1970.

Energy becomes big business
Bristow was incorporated in Nigeria on 17 December, 1969. In the early 1970s, Bristow had Wessexes, Whirlwind series 3s, Bell 206s and Islanders in its fleet, and its business began to rebuild as oil companies returned to the region. In the early to mid-1970s, Nigeria was Bristow's biggest profit center and grew through the decade, with contracts from Shell, Mobil, Texaco and others.

By the 1980s, Bristow phased out the Wessexes and its fleet consisted of Bell 212s, Bell 206s and Sikorsky S-76s, among others. In 1982, Bristow operated entirely from client bases.

In 1986, Bristow began training Nigerian pilots at its flying school at Redhill, a programme which continues at Bristow Academy today. Bristow has trained approximately 200 Nigerian pilots since the programme began. That same year Bristow also began sponsoring students at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, (NCAT), Zaria. The company has trained approximately 210 Nigerian helicopter engineers since this programme began, and it also continues today.

Going strong at the turn of the century
In the early 2000s, in an interview for the book, Leading from the Front, Allan Brown, then director of Bristow's International Business Unit, described Bristow's operations as a "growth area," with a main base at Lagos International Airport, a hangar, offices and the "renowned BRC" (Bristow Residential Compound).

The company flew two de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter turbo-prop aircraft for Shell in support of its crew changes between Lagos, Warri and Port Harcourt. Later, Bristow flew oil crews from Lagos on Dornier 328 turbo-prop aircraft, which were later replaced by three Dornier 328 jets, to Port Harcourt, Warri and Abuja, and provided crews for six Shell-owned Eurocopter EC-155s and five Bell 212s out of Eket for Mobil. Bristow also operated two Aerospatiale AS355? Twin-Squirrel helicopters for Texaco and ConocoPhillips (Canoxy) out of the Warri-Texaco base. In addition, the company operated the Mitsubishi MU-2 and Beech King Air turbo-prop aircraft for ad-hoc charter clients. Bristow was also operating in Ghana, Benin, Mauritania and Togo.

Brown also recounted that Bristow replaced many of the expats with Nigerian nationals at this time, and sponsored "three or four pilots through training in Florida, and engineers through training in Perth."

In 2002, Air Logistics acquired Pan African Airlines (Nigeria) Ltd (PAAN). The PAAN acquisition brought Bristow fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, and a major contract with Chevron.

In 2006, Bristow had 48 aircraft operating in Nigeria, including six new Bell 412s. After a tour of the Nigeria Air Force base at Port Harcourt by Bristow's then President and CEO, Bill Chiles, the company made a long-term commitment to invest in infrastructure at the base and focused on improving safety, profitability and business integrity in the region.

Bristow's operations continued to grow through the end of the decade. The company operated from nine bases in Nigeria, with the largest bases at Escravos, Warri, Port Harcourt and Lagos, and was the largest provider of helicopter service to the oil and gas industry in the area. The marketplace, which had historically been concentrated predominantly in the oil rich swamp and shallow water of the Niger Delta, expanded to work further offshore in support of deep water exploration. In the late 2000s, Bristow was operating Eurocopter AS332 Super Pumas under contract for Shell, Sikorsky S-76s under contract for Exxon, and in 2009, had acquired two Sikorsky S-92s for a contract with Chevron.

New Nigerian legislation creates opportunities
In 2011, the enactment of legislation in Nigeria to create more sustainable, stand-alone Nigerian companies in the nation's oil and gas industry prompted Bristow to separate its Bristow Helicopters (Nigeria) Ltd (BHNL) and PAAN operations in 2011. The company also started a new Nigerian entity – BGI Aviation Technical Services (BATS) – to provide technical aviation maintenance services within Nigeria. BHNL and PAAN are the first BATS clients.

While committing to continue to apply all key Bristow Group standards and policies, including Bristow's Target Zero safety program, the new arrangement brought autonomy to BHNL's and PAAN's flight operations, with support from Bristow Group via BATS.

Above: A project started as a donation drive at the school of Eve Baliff, daughter of Bristow President and CEO Jonathan Baliff - originally focused solely on orphans in a Tanzanian village - extended to the entire village when employees in Bristow's Houston, Texas office collected additional supplies to add to the shipment before it was picked up for delivery by a Bristow helicopter.

Present day Bristow
Bristow continues to maintain a strong business presence in Nigeria. The company deploys a combination of small, medium and large aircraft in Nigeria and operates from six bases, with the largest located in Escravos, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Warri. Bristow's client base is comprised mostly of major integrated offshore energy companies.

BHNL is a joint venture in Nigeria in which Bristow Helicopters owns a 40% interest, unrelated local Nigerian partners together own a 39% interest, a Nigerian company owned 100% by Nigerian employees owns a 19% interest, and an employee trust fund owns a remaining 2% interest as of 31 March, 2014.

PAAN is a joint venture in Nigeria with local partners. PAAN provides helicopter services to clients in Nigeria.

BATS provides aviation engineering and technical services to the Nigerian aviation market. BATS headquarters is at GRA Ikeja Lagos, and a service office is located at the General Aviation Area of Murtala Muhammed Airport, including a fully-equipped heavy maintenance hangar and management offices. In Port Harcourt, the company has a full maintenance hangar in addition to its support facilities. BATS also operates from customer bases in Warri, Calabar, Eket and Escravos.

East Africa
Bristow began services in Tanzania at the end of November 2013, working closely with its alliance partner, Everett Aviation (which itself started operations in 1996 with one AS350 leased from Eurocopter), with this contract representing the first steps by Bristow into a new market in East Africa.

Above: Two AW139s leased by Bristow to Everett Aviation in support of Tanzanian offshore oil and gas aviation services. A third aircraft is dedicated to search and rescue (SAR) operations.

A fleet of AW139 aircraft are housed at Everett Aviation’s facility at Julius Nyerere International Airport, supporting the activities of a major oil and gas company.