Pegasus Helicopter has signed an agreement with its Norwegian counterpart Hesnes Air to take over Hesnes' helicopter operations. The employees of Hesnes Air associated with helicopter operations will continue in their positions at Pegasus, and Hesnes helicopter customers will be able to purchase the same services from Pegasus.

Pegasus was established in 1998 and has its main base at Gardermoen, with secondary bases at Torp and Sola, while Hesnes is headquartered at Notteroy. As part of the agreement, Pegasus will move all its activities at Torp into the hangar owned by Hesnes.

Pegasus CEO Havard Brynjulvsrud says: "This achievement strengthens us in the market. It is a complementary operation that we are taking on hence we were not competing here before with Hesnes. In general we believe it is a good thing for the market, not only for Pegasus. We are facing authorities and customers with increasingly strong requirements that we need to meet. Running smaller operations and making it economically viable becomes increasingly difficult because of the requirements and demands set by authorities, customers and employees."

The main work Pegasus carries out is line inspections for power providers in the southern part of Norway and lifting for aerial work. Operations also include forest fertilising, providing lime to increase the pH for fish in lakes and rivers, and working with steep terrain. "We also provide VIP transportation and we have maintenance programmes for the Norwegian police helicopters, on the technical side," Brynjulvsrud adds. "We mainly use Airbus AS350s or H125s. The AS350s are reliable machines, and the lifting capacity is fairly good relative to its size and weight. To my knowledge it is the most common helicopter for aerial works worldwide."

Pegasus has had a good relationship with Hesnes since the late 1990s. "One year ago we started our own operation out from Torp, Sandefjord. By taking over the helicopter part from Hesnes' operations we have more or less doubled the activity from the base at Torp. Pilots as well as staff members are now employed by Pegasus," concludes Brynjulvsrud.