Sikorsky is expanding support infrastructure for S-92 and S-76 helicopters in the Asia Pacific region by making Thai Aviation Services (TAS) its first customer support center (CSC) in Thailand beginning at the end of this year. The U.S. manufacturer, which announced the news yesterday at this week’s Rotorcraft Asia show in Singapore, already has six CSCs in the region, with sites in Japan, India, Australia and Malaysia. TAS already operates five S-76s and two S-92s itself.
Christophe Nurit, Sikorsky’s regional sales executive for Asia, told AIN that Sikorsky claims a market share of approximately 13 percent in Asia. “The market has been flat for us in this region recently but its better than a decline,” he said. “ We are still seeing more S-92s being put into service in Australia than before.”

Currently, there are approximately 50 of Sikorsky’s S-92 flagships flying in the region, compared to 12 in 2012. Some of these aircraft were not delivered new from Sikorsky, but rather were aircraft moved on to new customers after being released by operators in the oil-and-gas sector. The manufacturer reported a 20 percent increase in flight hours flown by S-92 operators, boosting revenues from spare parts.

At Rotorcraft Asia 2017, Sikorsky recognized Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) for 50 years of continuous operations with Sikorsky. BSP also operates three S-92s, with one in search-and-rescue configuration.

“More countries are seeing the need for maritime patrols, border patrols and disaster relief, and there is a trend toward multipurpose platforms that are ‘marine-nized’ enough to go deeper into maritime operations,” explained Nurit, citing the Black Hawk, especially the MH-60R model, as an example of this trend.