Out of Egypt

When an organisation becomes a certain size, staff transportation to and from sites becomes a concern. Not a problem for most companies but depending on the area of industry a business finds itself in, and a company car just won’t cut it, thinking outside the box may be called for.

The oil and gas industry are no strangers to providing air transport for employees. The location of many of these plants are some distance from urban areas and market regions. In the US, Canada, Russia, the Middle East and North Africa, airlines can be found associated with petrochemical companies.

One such airline is Petroleum Air Services (PAS) based in Cairo, Egypt. Established in 1982, the airline includes Bristow Group as a 25% shareholder. The name Bristow might be a giveaway to the fleet make-up, with up to 43 helicopters listed. However, to reach those further afield locations, PAS also operates 3 x Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft and 5 x De Havilland Canada DHC-8-300 turboprops, each wearing a bold red / white livery.

Image by Jeroen Stroes

From the dusty arid backdrop of Cairo Airport, the three CRJ900’s are active most days with full schedules to domestic locations within Egypt such as Sharm el-Sheikh but also international flights to destinations including Beirut - Lebanon, Podgorica – Montenegro, Aqaba – Jordan, Jeddah – Saudi Arabia and Neom – Saudi Arabia. The airline has also visited European airports in Germany and the Netherlands.

Providing scheduled and chartered services for tour operators and airlines alike, PAS consists of 2 x CRJ900ER’s SU-CBY and SU-CCB along with a CRJ900LR SU-CCH, each accommodating 90 passengers.

The airlines five DHC Dash-300’s generally operate domestically to Hurghada – Egypt and Luxor – Egypt but have been international visitors to Malta on occasion. These 50 seat trusty turboprops averaging 18 to 22 years are well suited to flights within the dry dust-bowl that characterises the Egyptian climate.

Image by Petroleum Air Services

A brief listing of the rotor aircraft PAS currently fly, 10 x Bell 212’s, 15 x Bell 412HP’s, 6 Bell 206 L3’s, 2 x Bell 206 B3’s, 3 x Eurocopter EC135’s and 7 Agusta Westland AW139’s.

In the past the airline has operated DHC-6 Twin Otters and the iconic DHC Dash-7 four prop. If your in the envious position to find yourself on the search for the Pyramids of Giza this year, give the camel the hump and climb aboard a Dash-300 of Petroleum Air Services instead.