Belgian helicopter operator NHV has clinched a five-year contract to provide flights to Premier Oil’s North Sea assets from its Aberdeen base.

NHV will add another new Airbus H175 copter to its Granite City fleet to help cover the workload.

The firm started operating out of Aberdeen at the beginning of 2016 and announced the opening of a new hangar, apron and passenger handling facilities in October 2016.

A Premier spokesman said: “We are excited to start this new partnership with NHV to support our UKCS assets for the next five years.

“We welcome NHV’s ability to deliver safe and efficient helicopter operations in the North Sea and look forward to working closely with them”.

NHV base manager Jamie John said: “We are delighted that Premier Oil have decided to partner with NHV for their North Sea operations.

“We are looking forward to building a strong partnership with them and are eager to start flying on their behalf later this year.

“This new contract again allows us to showcase our safe, reliable, and efficient H175 services.”