Air Charter International (ACI), the Dubai-based aircraft charter and leasing company, has signed a partnership agreement with the UAE headquartered risk assessment company Special Security Defence Services (SDSS).

The new agreement, which is effective immediately, positions ACI as the exclusive aviation provider for SDSS clients needing air evacuation services. In addition SDSS will provide ACI with on the ground evacuation expertise and planning.

The new deal has been driven by the need to provide support to the growing number of oil and gas companies that are operating in increasingly remote, challenging and often post conflict areas. ACI already offers evacuation plans that have been tailored to each individual client and in a crisis situation provides initial air transportation out of the affected region. With the new agreement in place ACI and SDSS will be able to offer an integrated air and ground evacuation solution to international clients. ACI will manage the air services, whilst SDSS will co-ordinate the ground aspects of a crisis situation. Both parties will have access to, and be able to offer clients, round the clock air evacuation support service, “what-if” scenarios, complete risk assessments and fully integrated pre-planned evacuation charts.

“In today’s world, risk appears in many complex forms and very few situations are ever the same. Our clients rely on us having the knowledge and experience to extract personnel in danger in the safest and most secure manner possible. By partnering with SDSS we have widened our scope of services to improve our evacuation planning and offer a more holistic approach to crisis situations. Clients can be assured of a collaborative and unified approach to the evacuation,” said Caroline Jongma, Charter Sales Manager, ACI.

ACI has previously worked informally with a number of emergency response companies but with the development of the oil and gas sector client base the formalization of an agreement with an established security driven company became necessary. “SSDS provides highly trained risk management personnel and has a proven track record for handling evacuations in a variety of locations. This experience and knowledge combined with the twenty years of aviation operational acumen held by ACI makes for a powerful partnership and will better serve both sets of clients,” concludes Jongma.

ACI noting a growth in handling of charters with potential risk or unusual nature

The signing of the SDSS contract has also been heralded by the increased amount of unusual, risk associated or dangerous cargo charters that ACI is handling. In early April ACI assisted the rescue team of a damaged vessel, containing a large amount of steel, that was sinking off the coast of Oman. The situation required a low level aerial survey to establish the next operational steps and ACI sourced a Hawker 800 with a crew that were able to fly at very low altitude to establish the extent of damage. Special permits were needed from the Oman Civil Aviation authority to approve the low altitude survey and the whole situation was managed by ACI’s Special Project Manager Ian McEwan who joined the flight to monitor the task was completed within approximately three hours.

Later in April ACI managed the movement of a demining machine - equipment that removes landmines from the ground - from Bagram, Afghanistan on behalf of an international security firm working in the war torn country. The cargo which weighs over 20 tons, along with spare parts, was transported on board an Ilyushin 76 aircraft and took two hours to load correctly.

“The cargo was on caterpillar tracks and was extremely heavy to maneuver. It required a purpose built wood platform on which to stand to protect the aircraft and airport tarmac from any damage making it a real challenge to handle,” commented McEwan who managed the loading onsite. The machine was flown to Dubai World Central where it was then transported to Jebel Ali Port for its onward journey to Iraq. “We flew this piece of equipment out to Bagram three years ago so knew how to handle the situation which is why the client returned to us. We have two decades of experience handling outsized loads, unusual cargo and heavy weights which is why clients return to us on a regular basis. Our experience, knowledge and relationships with the regulatory authorities has established ACI as experts in the field and we are noting an increased demand from this sector of the charter market” concluded McEwan.