skydriller,
I can assure you, we are trying everything that is possible. I am one of the team who try to plan the consortium flying schedule in these situations, but unfortunately there is no way we can get more done. We have chartered fixed wing aircraft from various parts of europe over the last 2 weekends, but as you are well aware, the weather has either been bad out there, or in Shetland. Even when direct flights from Aberdeen go out, if the forecast for Shetland is poor, then the payloads drop dramatically so it doesn't always pay off as there is no refuel stop. Bergen has been mentioned, but I don't think it would make much difference. It is a bit like using Sumburgh, we are just not geared up for it, it would slow the operation down. A helicopter did go to Bergen on Friday, a Shell Scatsta one after it overshot the platform. The forecast for Shetland was poor so it had to head to Norway and stay overnight. BP tried the Bergen thing. They chartered a plane, flew to Bergen, then flew the guys back to Aberdeen as the field was in fog, nothing acheived! Helicopter crews are struggling for hours almost constantly at the moment. This is mainly due to the shortage of them, the phrase "over worked, under paid" may sum it up. Hope this is all correct, I not a pilot, so I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong about some of that. If it is any consolation, the BWA / BHL staff in Aberdeen Airport have been working for 3 weeks without a day off, and all they get is the **** from a lot of the offshore guys demanding to know when they will be fed, cancelled or flying, if only they / we could do something to the weather.
Hope we get you all off soon, then I may get a day off too!
