Geotech Airborne, a world leader in airborne geophysics, has selected Sudbury as the head office and operations centre of a new, vertically integrated sister company, Geotech Aviation.“We were using so many services from third parties that we decided we may as well get into the aviation business ourselves,” said Terry Zuk, Geotech Aviation’s general manager and director of international aviation.The company boasts a fleet of Eurocopter AS-350 B3 helicopters and Cessna Caravan fixed wing aircraft, and recently took delivery of an Agusta-Westland AW119 Koala.The aircraft are readied for service in Sudbury and sent all over the world to fly surveys for Geotech Airborne or leased to third parties for firefighting, drill rig transport and other assignments. Overhauls are performed in a new 13,000 square foot hangar, the largest facility of its kind north of Toronto.
The site is also used by Geotech Airborne staff for R&D and testing of new geophysical survey technologies on known anomalies in the Sudbury area.
Sudbury made sense because of its strategic location, but was also favoured by Geotech founder and CEO Ed Morrison, who grew up in the city and had his start in the geophysical survey industry here.
“If you take a look at Sudbury on the map and you have to ship craft around, it’s a pretty good place to fly out of,” said Zuk. “Plus, it’s a centre of mining and a lot of our customers are here.
“We’re smack dab in the middle of it all. If we have to go to Quebec, it’s an hour or hour and a half flight. To go out west, it’s two or three hours, so it’s very central.”
Geotech Aviation first built a 7,200 square foot building with adjoining helipad in an industrial area just outside the city, but scrapped the idea in favour of a much larger facility at the Sudbury Airport, which would also be able to accommodate fixed wing craft. The original building was sold and temporary facilities were leased at the airport while a new 17,000 square foot operations centre and hangar were under construction. The new building boasts 4,000 square feet of office space and the state-of-the-art 13,000 square foot hangar with epoxy floor.
The company has 50 employees, including aircraft mechanics, pilots and staff.
