BELFAST-based aviation firm Woodgate has won a £1 million contract with the Land and Property Services (LPS).
Following a tendering process it was chosen to assist LPS in the mammoth task of mapping every square inch of the north from the air.
Using their specially adapted Chieftain aircraft, Woodgate will be using hi-tech surveying colour and near infrared digital camera equipment to carry out the work.
The camera system produces 3D imagery which provideS accurate mapping and other uses such as property valuations for rating purposes. It also surveys agricultural land for the purposes of farm subsidies.
Woodgate, which is based at a hangar in Belfast International Airport, has been provided air support and facilities for LPS for some four decades and this latest contract will initially run for five years.
The company’s general manager David Shaw said LPS is a long-established and valued customer.
"We are very familiar with their requirements and because we have been doing the job for so long, it all works like clockwork," he added.
"The work that is done by Land and Property Services includes mapping, land registration, valuation and rating and the imagery captured from the Woodgate aircraft is utilised throughout the organisation and, indeed, other government departments and private individuals.
"We’re delighted to win this renewal of contract. It is an important part of our business and it will help to sustain jobs at the hangar well into 2020s."
Woodgate Aviation was formed in the late 1960s and operates private charters throughout the UK and to several European destinations as well as offering medical service, cargo and aircraft handling
