After swelling for 18 months as cash-strapped owners offloaded assets, inventories of used helicopters have peaked, says Tim Blockley, managing director of PremiAir Global, the Farnborough-based sales arm of the PremiAir charter and maintenance group. "This could be the beginning of the end of the downturn," he adds, with prices predicted to rise in the new year.
PremiAir says its partnership with New York Sikorsky S-76 operator Associated Aircraft Group to provide customers for each other's services has "gone well" since its launch in May. Marketed as Aurion, the aim is to build a global network of operators, offering flights through a single booking system.
The company is also taking delivery of a Sikorsky S-76C++, which it will operate on behalf of the Queen's Flight, part of the UK royal family's in-house travel department. The aircraft replaces a S-76C+, which PremiAir also managed.