Bristow Helicopters is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 helicopter airline originally based at Aberdeen Airport

Aberdeen Airport

Aberdeen Airport is an international airport, located at Dyce, a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, approximately northwest of Aberdeen city centre. 2.76 million passengers used Aberdeen Airport in 2010, a reduction of 7.4% compared with 2009, making it the 15th busiest airport in the UK...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, part of the Bristow Group based in Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

, USA.

Bristow Helicopters Ltd holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, it is permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 seats or more.
The company was formed in June 1953 when Alan Bristow

Alan Bristow

Alan Edgar Bristow, OBE, FRAeS founded one of the world's largest helicopter service companies, Bristow Helicopters Ltd, which prospered primarily in the international oil and mineral exploration and extraction industries but also spread into search and rescue, peacekeeping and other fields.Born...

 changed the name of his company from Air Whaling Limited.

Bristow Helicopters was one of the early suppliers of offshore helicopter services in the United Kingdom, it is also a supplier of Search and Rescue services and of military helicopter pilot training support in the UK.