ABOVE: the fleet of aircraft will all feature a new Coast Guard livery

The Irish Coast Guard has taken delivery of its first AW189, the first of a new fleet of specialist aircraft, which has arrived at the Coast Guard’s base at Dublin’s Weston airport.

Bristow’s Irish subsidiary was announced as the preferred bidder to provide search and rescue (SAR) services for the Irish Coast guard back in June 2023, with the ten-year contract between Bristow Ireland and the Irish Department of Transport signed in August. Transition from the existing contract will commence this October, with Bristow explaining that it expects to “be phasing in new equipment and technology as the transition to the new contract gets underway”.

In the coming weeks, SAR providers including Coast Guard volunteers, the RNLI, community inshore rescue and mountain rescue teams will conduct training work with the new helicopter. Between now and the end of October, “the intervening time will be used for training and conducting familiarisation exercises before [the helicopter] is put into active service,” explained Bristow.

This is the second significant milestone for Bristow Ireland in the last few days, with the organisation having recently received its Part 145 Line and Base Maintenance approval by the Irish Aviation Authority.

Welcoming the aircraft’s arrival, the Minister of State at the Department of Transport with responsibility for the Coast Guard, James Lawless, explained that the upcoming fleet (comprising five AW189s and two fixed-wing assets) will “enhance the Coast Guard’s capability to deliver a world class Search and Rescue and maritime environment monitoring services”.

This service is set to be fully operational in July 2025, with aircraft at four dedicated bases (Slingo, Shannon, Waterford and Dublin Weston) to transition to the new contracted service on a phased basis. It will also provide essential aviation support to other State organisation including the National Ambulance Service, An Garda Síochána, and the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Services.

IMAGE: BRISTOW GROUP