Offshore helicopter transport in Norway was traditionally dominated by Helikopter Service. By the late 1980s three competitors were established,
Lufttransport,
Mørefly and
Braathens Helikopter, but by 1992 Helikopter Service had bought all three. Both the authorities and the oil companies wanted multiple operators to stimulate competition. Norsk Helikopter was incorporated in 1993 to fill this gap. It was initially owned as a
joint venture between
Andreas Ugland and Bristow Helicopter, with the Norwegian shipping billionaire owning 51 percent. This resulted in a close technical cooperation with Bristow's other helicopter companies. The company was established with a fleet of
Aerospatiale AS332L Super Pumas. The company's first and main base is
Stavanger Airport, Sola. The airline expanded to
Bergen Airport, Flesland, in 1999 and then to
Brønnøysund Airport, Brønnøy in 2002. A base opened at
Hammerfest Airport on 11 November 2004 in conjunction with the construction at
Snøhvit. Norsk Helikopter became the first European operator of the
Sikorsky S-92A in 2005. The same year it bought the land-helicopter operator
Lufttransport. This lasted for three years. In 2008 the Ugland Group sold its shares to Bristow, in a deal which secured them full ownership of Lufttransport. Norsk Helikopter subsequently changed their name to Bristow Norway in April 2009. The company subsequently won several important contracts. In 2009 it started flying out of Hammerfest for
StatoilHydro and
Eni. The following year it won an important contract for the
Draugen and
Sleipner fields. The same year it bought its first
Eurocopter EC225 for all-weather search and rescue. The 'Norsk Helikopter' brand was retained by Ugland, which sold it to
Avincis Group (since purchased by
Babcock International). ==Fleet==