In its 21st annual "Turbine-Powered Civil Helicopter Purchase Outlook," Honeywell forecasts 4,000 new civilian-use helicopters will be delivered from 2019 to 2023, marginally lower than the 4,200 cited in the five-year forecast from 2018.
"Despite positive impacts of U.S. tax reform on new helicopter purchase plans in North America, an inconsistent economic outlook for international markets has resulted in lower purchase plans worldwide from fleet managers when compared with a year ago," said Heath Patrick, president, Americas Aftermarket, Honeywell Aerospace. "Honeywell remains focused on bringing innovation to the market by delivering avionics, monitoring systems and Connected Helicopter technologies that boost a platform's efficiency and availability."
Key survey findings this year include:
Despite respondents having a slightly less positive view of the global economic outlook in this year's survey compared with 2018, new helicopter platforms will support an expected 3 to 4 percent annual growth rate in overall deliveries. The predicted increase in deliveries signals an overall healthy helicopter market poised for moderate growth.
Regional Overview
North America: Purchase plans have risen by five percentage points over a year ago, with 18 percent of respondents saying they would either replace or expand their fleet with a new helicopter over the next five years. North America is home to more than 40 percent of the world's helicopter fleet.
Europe: Compared with 2018 results, purchase plans were lower in this year's survey. Nearly 15 percent of respondents said they would either replace or expand their fleet with a new helicopter over the next five years. The figure was 22 percent a year ago.
Latin America: Results for 2019 show significantly lower fleet replacement and growth expectations compared with 2018. Purchase plans are well below the global average of 15 percent, and the region's purchase plans decreased by 26 percentage points from last year.
Middle East and Africa: This region had the second highest new purchase rate globally, with 15 percent of respondents' fleets expected to get a new helicopter replacement or addition. Purchase plans were 5 percentage points higher compared with 2018 survey results.
Asia Pacific: Overall buying plans were down 5 percentage points when compared with 2018. Close to 13 percent of respondents said they would either replace or expand their fleet with a new helicopter over the next five years.
Methodology
The 2019 outlook presents a snapshot of the helicopter business at a given point in time and reflects the current business and political environment. This year's data comes from a survey of more than 1,000 chief pilots and flight department managers of companies operating 3,334 turbine and 321 piston helicopters worldwide. The survey excluded large fleet or "mega" operators, which were addressed separately. Input received from large oil and gas support and emergency medical service fleet operators is factored into the overall outlook in addition to the individual flight department responses. The survey detailed the types of aircraft operated and assessed specific plans to replace aircraft or add new helicopters to the fleet.
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