Associated Aircraft Group (AAG) and Keystone Helicopter Corp. have joined forces to create an East Coast charter operation. Both companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., which recently acquired Keystone. Under the joint effort, AAG will operate executive-configured Sikorsky S-76 charter flights from Keystone’s Coatesville, Pa. Heliplex, flying passengers from the Philadelphia area to the Northeast corridor as well as to the Washington, D.C. area and the North Carolina “technology triangle.”

AAG and Keystone will also offer a range of aircraft maintenance and management services as well as access to Sikorsky’s fractional-share program.

Founded in 1953, Keystone maintains a large technical services depot and completion center near Philadelphia. AAG provides charter services, fractional aircraft sales, helicopter maintenance and management at facilities in Danbury, Conn., and Wappingers Falls, N.Y.

Detailed information on the range of services and benefits this collaboration will bring to individuals and corporate flight operations in eastern Pennsylvania may be had at Keystone’s Heli-Expo Booth No. 2645, adjacent to the Sikorsky display area in Booth No. 2537.

Flight time in the S-76 between Metro Philadelphia and Manhattan is approximately 40 minutes; a trip from Philadelphia to the Washington area will also be less than an hour.

Said David Ford, Keystone’s president, “The Sikorsky S-76 is the standard by which all other rotary aircraft are compared, and we’re very pleased to offer this helicopter at Coatesville. We look forward to providing a new level of service and travel options for the Philadelphia area.”