The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought serious disruption to individuals and businesses around the world. Oil, Gas & Energy is certainly an industry which has had to adapt to a number of changes. At Air Partner, we have been closely supporting our energy clients with their vital operations during COVID-19, providing critical charter services and safeguarding measures to ensure businesses remain on track. A lot of these operations are large-scale in hard to reach destinations, which has meant COVID-19 has brought about a higher degree of disruption and uncertainty.
We look at the ways Air Partner have assisted the Oil, Gas & Energy industries to keep essential projects moving.
Providing clients with critical crew rotation flights
As our clients have a requirement to keep disruptions to their operations and their personnel to an absolute minimum, we’ve been supporting with essential crew rotation flights, providing charter flights that enable crew changes to take place with minimal impact to projects and personnel. The use of charter flights ensures flexibility to adapt to changes in real time and by working closely with clients we can to tailor the service to their requirements taking into consideration the nationalities of those travelling and the logistical challenges of the project. As a leader in global aviation services, we’re perfectly placed to support clients with a number of services to help their operations. We can supply both private jets (for up to 19 passengers) and commercial jets (for larger groups of more than 20), depending on the number of crew members that our clients are looking to transport. We have also been supporting freight services, all of which combined have been helping clients in difficult times.
With crew rotation flights, we can react quickly to clients’ requirements, providing swift turnarounds which is essential whilst times are uncertain. Our expert team are always up to date with the latest information on borders and airport openings and closures, allowing us to support flights with tailored information and advice. Whilst restrictions continue to change regularly in many countries globally, we have been able to navigate solutions when regular services have ceased to operate.
Charter flights are essential to mitigate the impact of reduced scheduled flights
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues scheduled services have been dramatically impacted. Many airlines have reduced capacity and regular routes to compensate for restrictions imposed to aircraft and passengers a like, in some instances meaning whole fleets grounded or operated at vastly reduced capacities.
This is where private charter flights are providing an essential service, allowing businesses to fly their crew on a dedicated charter flight instead, wherever they need to be when they need to be there. At Air Partner, we’ve seen an increase in request since March from new energy clients who would usually use scheduled flights to transport their workers but are now unable to do so. We expect this demand to continue in the future even once scheduled services largely resume as a private charter can offer many benefits to mitigate risks against the backdrop of the pandemic, allowing businesses to avoid crowded airport areas and providing control of the on-board environment, giving maximum control in these challenging times.
The importance of having an Air Evacuation Plan
With a large number of energy companies with employees based in risk areas working on essential operations, having an Emergency Air Evacuation Plan remains of paramount importance. This allows companies to safeguard their employees, especially during these unpredictable times. It provides clients with a detailed country evacuation plan, tailored to their requirements and a range of other benefits, including quick response evacuation, access to a line of credit for an emergency flight, and a range of other medical and security services. All of which are crucial to ensure clients can adhere to their duty of care and quickly evacuate their employees should any type of emergency occur.
Air Partner Protect to safeguard clients and their essential workers
When COVID-19 initially started to impact individuals and businesses globally, we launched Air Partner Protect, a unique product allowing our clients to safeguard their flights, mitigate risk and be provided with guidance and reassurance during the outbreak. Our tailored support has been well-received by clients and allows them to protect their employees during these unprecedented times. Such measures are of paramount importance to energy clients flying essential workers, such as our approved operators who are compliant with recommended COVID-19 procedures, providing aircraft deep cleaning and crew adhering to recommended hygiene policies. Additionally, we can provide security screening and medical support, tailored to our clients’ requirements.
Keeping safety a top priority
Safety is always a driving consideration in the Oil & Gas industry, which is why throughout COVID-19 we are also continuing to offer our clients in the sector custom safety, fatigue risk management and airworthiness audits, assessment services through Baines Simmons, our world-leading aviation safety consultancy. Baines Simmons helps organizations in the industry to manage their Organizational Safety and Risk Performance, as well as apply Safety and Performance techniques as a catalyst for creating a Performance-Based Environment (PBE) – providing ultimately safer operations and invaluable peace of mind.
At Air Partner, our experienced aviation professionals provide a tailored service, with quick and reliable charter services tailored for any industry. With our dedicated 24/7 flight support, approved operators and expert advice, we’ll provide you with custom service detailed to your requirements.