Air BP completes first fuelling at Middle Eastern off-airport location

Air BP continues to grow its business in the Middle East with the successful inauguration of its first off–airport site in the region.
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The new location, at the HeliDubai Fesitval City (DFC) Heli-pad, was the venue for the test refuelling of HeliDubai’s Augusta 109 by the Air BP operations team in June. Following the successful fuelling, complete control of HeliDubai’s fuelling operations was handed over to its operational team as HeliDubai became the first Air BP customer in the Middle East to sign up to the OMEGA programme. 

Air BP’s customer focused OMEGA - Operations Manual for External General Aviation - product is a tailored operational support and training programme which has been designed to ensure that customers such as airport operators, heliport operators and refuelling contractors can achieve high levels of operating standards when handling fuel. Air BP and HeliDubai worked closely to tailor-make from the ground up both the package of fuelling equipment and operating procedures required at the site. The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) has also been a key stakeholder in the project, culminating in a safety oversight audit which took place successfully on 29th June. 

The new location provides HeliDubai with increased flexibility as it enables the operator to balance more efficiently the passenger-to-fuel weight load enabling a greater number of passengers to travel through the heliport. Air BP anticipates that the bespoke fuelling operation will prove to be highly popular with DFC, the operator, and customers alike. 

“We are very pleased to report that this project, which was first conceived in 2012, has finally culminated in the first fuelling at the HeliDubai Festival City Heli-pad. The fuelling was very successful and the operation went very smoothly,” said Robert Gerritsen, Air BP’s general aviation business manager Middle East and Africa. “It has been a real team effort to get to the first fuelling at our first OMEGA site in the Middle East, and we are delighted to have realized this project together with the HeliDubai team.”