Since being founded in 1971, Air Fast has operated around 15 different aircraft types, among them a number of various Boeing 737 models. The latest addition are two Boeing 737 Max 8, both built in 2018 and previously operated by Norwegian Air Sweden. The one pictured here joined the Air Fast fleet in May 2024, supplementing another Max 8 registered PK-OFI (since January 2024), four MD-80 and a single DHC-6-300. Air Fast specialises in chartered passenger and cargo flights to serve the oil, mining and construction industry within Indonesia.

In 2002, the Sécurité Civile started to replace its ageing Alouette III fleet with 38 Eurocopter EC145, of which 26 were registered as F-ZBPA through F-ZBPZ and 12 as F-ZBQA through F-ZBQL. The Sécurité Civile maintains 23 helicopter bases spread throughout France and its overseas territories, using callsign DRAGON followed by the the number of the département in which the base is located. Hence, the Strasbourg based EC145 pictured here (built in 2003) is Dragon 67.

Of the eight AW139 operated by Air Green as of October 2024, I-RIVU is the latest and was added to the fleet brandnew in 2023. It was temporarly based in Olbia on the island of Sardinia when pictured here, covering for I-OLBI which is usually based there and underwent maintenance at Air Green's Maintenance Base in Cafasse north of Torino. Besides the AW139 based in Olbia, Air Green operates two more HEMS helicopters on Sardinia: an Airbus H145 in Alghero and another H145 in Cagliari.

In 2019, the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affaires (Ministarstvo Unutrašnjih Poslova) ordered three H215 (AS-332L1e) Super Pumas to be delivered as from 2022. The first one is is seen here returning from a checkflight to Alpnach where it underwent maintenance at RUAG Aerospace, a well known competence center for AS332 / H215 maintenance. The other two Serbian H215's both carry a camouflage paint scheme and registrations YU-HHJ (c/n 3107) and YU-OPS (c/n 3116). Note the external air conditioning unit just behind the co-pilot's door of YU-VIP, the appropriate registration revealing the helicopter's main task.

The italian state police started to operate the A-109A / A-II Hirundo in 1979, and took delivery of a total of 13 units. They were all serialled in the PS-30 to PS-64 range but some helicopters were reserialled within that range, and some numbers were omitted altogether. PS-62 was assigned to 2 Reparto Volo (2 RV) based in Milan-Malpensa when photographed on a cold winter day. It is believed that the A109's have now been retired, with the arrival of eight new AW139. Scanned from a slide.

Druk Air - the national airline of the Kingdom of Bhutan and not to be confused with private Bhutan Airlines - was founded in April 1981 and started operating two Dornier 228 in February of 1983. Switching to three BAE-146 aircraft in 1988 allowed the airline to expand it's network. Then in October and November of 2004, the first two Airbus A319 entered service, followed by A5-JSW in March 2015 - the 3rd A319 and only one with sharklets. At the time of upload, an A320 and an ATR-42 complete the fleet while three A320Neos and two A321XLR's are on order with deliveries planned as from 2030.

In order to gradually replace it's aging AB412 fleet, the Vigili del Fuoco placed it's first AW139 order in December of 2018. The 1st - serialled VF-139 - was delivered in April of 2019, and since then, an additional 27 were ordered. VF-165 shown here was only delivered a few days before this picture was taken, while the last - VF-166 - is to be handed over to the VdF before the end of 2024. The fleet is operating from approx. 12 VdF bases spread througout Italy.

Between July and October of 2011, the Qatar Emiri AF took delivery of four stretched C-130J-30, becoming yet another new Hercules operator. They are serialled 211 through 214 and in addition carry civilian registration A7-MAH, -MAI, MAJ and MAK, with only the last three letters painted on the nose section. All are assigned to the Airlift Group's Flying Wing 8 based at Al Udaid AFB and operated by 12 squadron.

Air Greenland operates a diverse fleet of aircraft and helicopters, rangeing from the single engine AS350 Airbus Helicopter up to the Airbus A330 airliner. Helicopters always played a vital role in connecting and supplying Greenland's remote communities. In 1996, Air Greenland started to introduce a sole AS-350B2, moving to the more powerful AS-350B3 in 2003. Of a total of 15 delivered AS350B3's so far, nine remain in service at the time of upload, including OY-HGT shown here. In June 2019, this 2007 built airframe was involved in an accident but subsequently rebuilt.

Unlike the 1st AW189 destined for the Irish Coast Guard - refer to picture ID 701869 - , the 2nd AW189 already carries the irish registration. This aircraft will begin flight training in Ireland in August 2024 and will then receive it's full mission equipment latter. The contract won by Bristow Helicopters will consist of 5 new aircraft, while a 6th will be drawn from the current Bristow AW189 fleet in the UK. The six helicopters will be based on four bases (Dublin-Weston, Waterford, Shannon and Sligo), and will be supplement by two Beech King Air fixed-wing aircraft.

As of July 2024, italian operator Elitellina - part of the spanish Pegasus Aero Group - operates 15 AS-350B3's from it's main base in Talamona and the smaller heliport in Gordona (both located in the province of Sondrio). A 3rd Elitellina operational base is located in an industrial zone close to the village of Piedimulera in the Valley of Ossola. I-MCMC shown here wears the colorful Elitellina paint scheme even though most other B3's in the fleet keep the previous owners livery for a good while, as the heli's are put to work right away, and painting them seems to be less of a priority.

In 2023, the provincial Coast Guard of Galicia (Northwest Spain) replaced their two S-76's with two AW139. EC-OEO shown here was built in 2010 and briefly carried registration N209YS and G-FBHA before the UK Ministry of Defence started to operate it as from April 2011 till around 2019 under military serial ZR283. The heli then briefly went back to FB Helicopters as G-FBHA before being sold to Avincis Spain, responsible for the Xunta de Galicia SAR contract. Seen taxiing out for an evening training flight at its home base at Vigo airport.

Built in 2024 and delivered new to Air Zermatt in March of 2024, this H125 is the 2nd "HB-XCL" operated by the swiss helicopter pioneer. The registration was chosen with a historic reason, as "HB-XCL" has previously been assigned to Air Zermatt's very 1st helicopter, an AB206A Jet Ranger with c/n 8028. First operated by Heliswiss and then by Air Zermatt as from 19 December 1968, the underpowered Jet Ranger on March 12, 1969 suffered a landing accident on the Theodul Glacier in adverse weather condition, and has consequently been written off.

In February of 2008, the RTAF ordered a 1st batch of six Gripens, among them four dual seaters. The airframe pictured here was delivered in February 2011 and assigned - like all others - to 701 Squadron based in Surat Thani. A 2nd batch of six Gripens (all JAS-39C) was ordered in February 2009, but the order was only confirmed by the Thai Government in November of 2010. Finally, a 3rd batch of four to six airframes was planned but never exercised. Of the 12 delivered, 11 remain in service, with JAS-39C serialled "Kh.20-8/56" (Military code 70108) being written off on January 14, 2017.

Even though the HEMS market is "flooded" with Airbus H145 helicopters these days, it's nice to see that Heli-Austria takes a different route, at least for the time being. Thanks to the austrian company, aviation enthusiasts can still enjoy MD902 Explorers in the HEMS role. At the time of upload, the company operated no less than nine of it's own, while two more - HB-ZZW and HB-ZZM - are registered in Switzerland, owned by Linth Air Service but leased to Heli-Austria. HB-ZZM pictured here was built in 2000 and till the end of 2016 served as G-HPOL with the Humberside Police in the UK.

The airframe pictured here is modified with the "Advanced Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance System" (ATARS), thus becoming an F/A-18D(RC). The installation of the electro-optical sensor system required the standard M61 cannon to be removed. ATARS was only installed in USMC all-weather-attack squadron F/A-18D's. Four such units operated three F/A-18D(RC) each, meaning at least 12 Hornets were modified (even though some reports suggest as many as 60). South Carolina based VMFA(AW)-533 "Hawks" operated the F/A-18D between 1992 and 2022. This bird was previously assigned to VMFA(AW)-332.

This 2017 built H125 was delivered new to french operator Air Works Helicopters, which leased it to EcoCopter as CC-AUQ in 2021/2022 to support the volcano monitoring efforts in Chile. Next stop seemed to be North-Western Spain, as the helicopter can be seen here resting at the Iomba Heliport west of Santiago de Compostela, again carrying its original french registration F-HJMF. Hired by the local "Xunta de Galicia" government for a fire fighting contract, hence the small sticker on the cargo door.

ERA Helicopters - becoming the AW189 launch customer in the Americas in 2014 - currently operates four of the type for the O&G Industry in the Gulf of Mexico. The first two were delivered in December of 2015, among them N314SS which together with sistership N189EH commenced operation in April 2016. Number 3 and 4 briefly operated in Brazil for ERA subsidiary Aeroleo Taxi Aero in 2017 before returning to the US as N326LS and N503JW respectively. Close to 160 AW189's have been produced at the time of upload.

This 1964 built S-61 first flew with New York Airways as N92866, then as PH-NZA with KLM Helikopters which also leased it to the United Nations in the 1990's for a humanitarian operation in Bosnia. Next stop was with ERA Helicopters before it finally joined Coulson in June of 2019. Since forest or wild fires are often ignited by sparks originating from power lines, the heli can be seen here standing-by on a fire fighting contract, hired by the electrical company Edison, of which a small sticker can be seen under the cockpit window.

In late May 2023, Bristow Helicopters won the tender to provide for Ireland's SAR needs for the next ten years. Here, the 1st new AW189 destined for that contract can be seen during a refueling stop in Switzerland, while being ferry flown from Milano to Aberdeen. There, it will be equipped with the necessary SAR mission equipment (as G-CMTP), before relocating to Ireland for training the flight crews, ground and offshore partners. The heli will be put into service on November 1, 2024 (by then with a EI-registration), starting to replace the current SAR S-92's operated by CHC Helicopters.