Discovery Air Inc. subsidiary Great Slave Helicopters Ltd., working in partnership with 100% aboriginal-owned Dehcho Regional Helicopters LP, has been awarded a five-year contract to provide firefighting support and suppression services out of Fort Simpson, NT.

Dehcho Regional Helicopters brings together the the business arms of the Fort Simpson Metis Nation; Liidlii Kue First Nation; Jean Marie River First Nation; Acho Dene Koe First Nation; Nahanni Butte Dene Band; Pehdzeh Ki First Nation, and; Sambaa K’e Dene Band, with Yellowknife-based Great Slave Helicopters – Canada’s second largest VFR helicopter company – conducting all flight operations.

“As a company, we’ve been working hard for the past year to ensure this good news today,” said Joanne Deneron, Dehcho Regional Helicopters President. “This contract is the cornerstone of our business model and has been since before we even purchased our own helicopter right off the Eurocopter Canada assembly line in 2008.”

The five-year deal, valued in excess of $2 million if the expected hours are flown, will see Dehcho Regional Helicopters supply its firefighting purpose-built Astar 350 B2 helicopter for use on the contract by Great Slave Helicopters, which will also provide the related flight and maintenance crew to the Northwest Territories Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

“Together with our partners, Great Slave Helicopters has made a tremendous investment around the Dehcho region since our Fort Simpson base first became a year-round facility in 2000,” said Jeff Denomme, President of Great Slave Helicopters. “We are proud to call Fort Simpson home and look forward to spending another five years working with our partners to support the brave Dehcho residents who return annually to serve on the region’s fire crews.”

In addition to the NWT, Great Slave Helicopters, its subsidiaries and aboriginal partners currently service forest fire contracts in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario, and provide back-up support in B.C. and Yukon.