With 14 locations, Swiss Helicopter is the leading helicopter company in Switzerland. In addition to classic transport and passenger flights, the company also offers sightseeing flights to experience the Alpine Swiss landscape from above. The Bern-Belp site has now decided to renovate the lighting in the hangar. The new lighting solution is intended to make the difficult work on the machines easier for employees and provide them with better visibility and therefore greater safety. To make the lighting refurbishment as simple as possible, Swiss Helicopter took advantage of the NOW lighting contracting offer from Zumtobel Group Services (ZGS). In a flexible service contract at a fixed monthly rate, the lighting specialist takes complete control of the lighting for Swiss Helicopter. This means that the helicopter company always benefits from the latest lighting technology, including all installation and maintenance tasks, for the duration of the contract.

Optimization of hangar lighting

The aim of the refurbishment was to bring more light into the almost 650 m² hangar and to distribute it in the best possible way for the work on the helicopters. The 6.75 m high ceilings were a challenge. However, ZGS not only had to consider the height, but also the crane runway, which is mounted on the ceiling to lift larger machine parts from A to B, in the planning. ZGS defined new light points based on a lighting calculation. The optimized solution enables higher illuminance with lower energy consumption (3,192 kW and 550 lux instead of the previous 6,887 kW and 280 lux). The tried-and-tested Tecton C industrial luminaire and a lighting control system for easy operation are used.

"We opted for the NOW concept from Zumtobel Group Services because it not only gives us modern and better lighting in our hangar, but we also have a competent partner at our side. A partner who will handle the entire refurbishment and guarantee us perfect lighting conditions for years to come," says Markus Epp, the base manager in Belp, about the decision in favor of ZGS.

From planning and project management through to after-sales service and annual maintenance, the lighting specialist took on all activities relating to the refurbishment and acted as general contractor. The lighting solution is checked during regular inspections to ensure that it maintains the agreed performance over the contract period of 36 months. Another plus point for the helicopter base: ZGS was able to evaluate subsidies amounting to CHF 3000 by replacing the inefficient, old light sources. The savings potential determined during the planning phase was sufficient to receive approval from the Optimo Plus 2015/per kilowatt program.