CHC Helicopter launches its super medium aircraft program with a commitment to lease five new aircraft from GECAS’ Milestone Aviation Group Limited (“Milestone”). This transaction will add three new Leonardo AW189s and two Airbus H175s from Milestone’s order book with the manufacturers to CHC’s global fleet. The new aircraft will be configured for energy transport missions and will serve CHC customers in the North Sea and Australia.

“We are working closely with Milestone to carefully build a productive, safe and reliable fleet to meet the varying needs of our customers throughout the world,” said Karl Fessenden, President and CEO of CHC Helicopter. “Milestone has been a valuable leasing partner towards this goal, with a diverse order book across manufacturers and types, and deep expertise in aircraft operational capabilities.”

Fessenden added “Since completing our restructuring in March, our fleet productivity has significantly improved and matches our historical peak levels before the oil and gas downturn. We are excited to add these new super medium aircraft to our fleet in support of new customer contracts.”

“We are very proud to introduce the Leonardo AW189 and Airbus H175 types to CHC’s fleet,” remarked Daniel Rosenthal, President and CEO of Milestone, adding “We have worked very closely with CHC since their restructuring to review their fleet needs and provide both the aircraft and capital solutions, through operating lease and debt financing, that meet those needs. We are delighted to deliver these new technology assets that fit their mission profile with improved economics for their end customers.”

Both the Leonardo AW189 and the Airbus H175 are designed to meet long-range, high endurance requirements in demanding environments, which will allow CHC to use them for missions that have either been traditionally limited to heavy aircraft or access platforms that are not designed to support them. This will not only give customers additional flexibility, but also help them lower their overall costs per passenger.