Asian Sky Group has released its “Year End 2016 Asia Pacific Civil Helicopter Fleet Report.” Announced at Heli-Expo, this is the fourth installment of the report. It includes a breakdown of the Asia-Pacific helicopter fleet by fleet size, replacement cost, mission segments, size categories and original equipment manufacturer (piston aircraft are excluded).
“With each issue of the Asia Pacific Civil Helicopter Fleet Report, [Asian Sky Group] better understands the data and information that readers and the industry need,” said Jeffrey Lowe, Asian Sky Group managing director. “The report is constantly evolving and the Helicopter Leasing Market Overview is an example of that. This a section the industry will find insightful, as this data is limited and often inaccessible. Overall, the report continues to provide relevant information and has become an indispensable source on business aviation within the Asia-Pacific region.”
Asian Sky Group highlighted the following points from its report:
At the end of 2016, 3,924 helicopters (excusing piston-powered ones) made up Asia-Pacific’s civil fleet. China remained the region’s “growth driver,” with 85 new helicopters in 2016, an increase of 21% year over year.
The region’s fleet is still largely centralized in Australia, Japan, China and New Zealand, with helicopters in those countries making up 61% of the total region’s fleet. “Australia represents the largest market overall and is the largest market for Bell Helicopter, followed by Japan, the largest market for Airbus Helicopters and Leonardo, and China, the largest market for Sikorsky,” noted the report. “New Zealand follows these three, with the largest market for MD Helicopters.”
Airbus, Bell, Sikorsky and Leonardo make up 90% of the market.
54% of the fleet are used for multiple missions, 12% for corporate/private, 9% for offshore, 7% for search and rescue, and 5% for emergency medical. “In replacement cost terms, offshore has become the largest segment, with 21% of the fleet, followed by search and rescue at 11%.”
“A more recent shift in the Asia-Pacific fleet has been the usage by local operators of aircraft dry-leased from dedicated helicopter leasing companies. By yearend 2016, Asia Pacific’s operators were using more than 170 helicopters dry-leased from third parties, with a replacement cost value of approximately $1.5 billion.”
The largest lessors in the region include Milestone Aviation Group, Waypoint Leasing, Australia & New Zealand Bank (ANZ), Airwork NZ, Lease Corp. International (LCI) and Eagle Copters.
