Public Contracts Scotland

School of Biology/SMRU: Aircraft for the Aerial Survey of Grey Seal Breeding Colonies 2025

University of St Andrews

Awarded
services
Scotland

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Key details

Contracting authority
Region
Clackmannanshire and Fife
Contract value
£300,000ex VAT
Submissions closed
2 July 2025
Published
22 September 2025

Procurement

Procedure type
Open procedure
CPV classifications
  • 60424100 Non-scheduled air transport services
  • 34711300 Piloted aircraft

What happened

University of St Andrews awarded this contract to Cheshire Flying Services Limited Trading as Ravenair worth £145,972 on 25 Aug 2025.

Description

In September to December 2025, SMRU will carry out repeat aerial surveys of around 80 grey seal breeding sites around Scotland and along the east coast of England (with the aim to survey each colony 4 or 5 times throughout the season). We therefore require a twin-engine aircraft (with survey pilot) with 4-5 hours available flight time excluding reserve fuel time.

Full description

In September to December 2025, SMRU will carry out repeat aerial surveys of around 80 grey seal breeding sites around Scotland and along the east coast of England (with the aim to survey each colony 4 or 5 times throughout the season). We therefore require a twin-engine aircraft (with survey pilot) with 4-5 hours available flight time excluding reserve fuel time. Several flights will be to and from relatively remote airports such as Stornoway and Kirkwall. The aircraft must accommodate two SMRU staff and SMRU’s aerial camera system (PAS150). Surveys will be carried out from mid-September 2025 until early January 2026 with 9 or 10 separate rounds of surveys (most of these taking 3 to 4 days each) spread through the season with approximately 10-day intervals between rounds. The total flying time is expected to be around 120 hours (which would probably mean around 135 hours engine time). We estimate a total number of approx. 40 flights conducted on around 30 different days will be needed. Overnights at various airports (e.g. Stornoway, Kirkwall, Perth, Norwich) will be required.

Please see ITT for full details.. All tenders for the University of St Andrews are administered through our eTendering System (InTend).To Express an Interest please go to our tender website at https://intendhost.co.uk/universityofstandrews

Please note that 'Notes of Interest' placed via PCS (Public Contracts Scotland) are not automatically accepted

Additional information

All tenders for the University of St Andrews are administered through our eTendering System (InTend).To Express an Interest please go to our tender website at https://intendhost.co.uk/universityofstandrews

Please note that 'Notes of Interest' placed via PCS (Public Contracts Scotland) are not automatically accepted

Awarded supplier

Supplier
Cheshire Flying Services Limited Trading as Ravenair
Award value
£145,972
Award date
25 August 2025

Contact

Address
Walter Bower House, Eden Campus, Guardbridge, KY16 0US
Contact name
Adrian Wood

Identifiers

Buyer reference
BIO/300525/CM/SL
Notice ID
rls-39-SEP539775
OCID
ocds-r6ebe6-0000799694

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External ID: pcs-ocds-r6ebe6-0000799694 • Added 15 May 2026