CYPRUS: A YEAR IN REVIEW

Following an initial campaign in 2011-2012 with Noble Energy, PHI officially began operations in Cyprus in September 2014.

PHI Aviation is the only heli-aviation company in Cyprus that employs local employees. It’s this local knowledge that provides a level of service that goes above and beyond what other companies in the region offer, giving the team a strong competitive advantage when engaging in tenders. PHI is also the only operator in the area with a secure and enclosed hangar, based out of Larnaca International Airport.

The last 12 months have been busy for the Cyprus team as they continue to deliver for clients and look for upcoming opportunities in the region.

HomeBase spoke with Kyriacos (Kerry) Petsas, Director - PHI Cyprus, about the last 12 months and what is on the horizon for the team. Kerry was a line pilot when PHI first began work in Cyprus, when operations were run via PHI’s US office. Kerry oversees the day-to-day operations of the base, and in 2019 he began recruiting his current team, which now number 22.

What has been happening over the last 12 months?

It’s been a busy 12 months for us here in Cyprus. We’ve welcomed some new team members and there is plenty of contract work to keep us busy.

In early 2022, we concluded our campaign with ExxonMobil, with only a short break before we kicked off work with ENI, which we supported until the end of the year. We received very positive feedback from both campaigns and ExxonMobil graded us an ‘excellent’ rating for our service.

Throughout 2022 we also transported a number of VVIPs (very, very important people!), including a number of Ministers including – the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Energy for the Republic of Cyprus, Federica Ferrari – the Italian Ambassador to Cyprus, Salina Grenet-Catalano – the French Ambassador to Cyprus and the managing directors of ENI and TotalEnergies. It was great to be able to show our customers what we do and get some invaluable face time. We also completed several Medevac flights from the drilling location, approximately 130 nm southwest of Cyprus, which saw the PHI crew safely extract personnel under challenging conditions.

We are currently in discussions with another customer for a campaign in 2023 and hope to support ENI once they move into the production phase.

Tell us about the team in Cyprus

We’ve got a small, tight-knit management team of six here in Cyprus, which includes me, as Country Director; George Vasiliou as Head of Maintenance; Andreas Eleftheriou, Director of Flight Operations; Marius Wagnen as Head of Training; Natalie Ayiotis our Executive Assistant & Logistics Support Manager; and John Charos who joined us in early April 2022 as Compliance Monitoring Manager, overseeing compliance for the regulatory, quality and safety systems.

Out in the field, we’ve got a great team of nine pilots, five engineers and two Ground Support personnel, who are a mix of locals and ex-pats.

What opportunities do you see for PHI in Cyprus?

While not something we would class as an opportunity, the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis have fueled offshore exploration activity off the coast of Cyprus and we are seeing an uptick in activity and interest in the region.

ENI has made a significant discovery, Block 6, which is the second-largest well in this part of the world (after Egypt). They are expediting their next campaign, which will kick off sometime in 2023. The Block 6 discovery has put Cyprus firmly on the map for the oil and gas industry and means long-term production and investment in the region is much more likelygreat news for PHI.

What were some of your highlights from 2022?

The whole team has been exemplary over the last 12 months and I’m proud of each one of them. Completing the ExxonMobil contract and being recognized for the quality of our service was definitely a highlight for me.