Honeywell Projects the Global Delivery of Approximately 5,000 new Helicopters in the Next Five Years

According to the Honeywell’s projections for the future, the procurements would be steadily increasing in the period of next five years while the new model procurements would be relatively less in total and the procurement plans of the Latin America region would strengthen.The interest towards the light twin engine helicopters is expected to increase in the upcoming period taking the analysis into consideration.

The helicopter industry responds to this case with a cautious projection for the new procurements in the short run taking the decelerated global economic growth atmosphere and the increasing market fluctuations related with the oil and gas. According to Honeywell’s 18th Annual Turbine Engine Civil Helicopter Procurement projection, 4.300 – 4.800 helicopters for civil uses will be produced from 2016 to 2020 and it is observed that this figure is 400 helicopters lower than the five – year projection figure of 2015.

Honeywell Aerospace Defence and Space Strategic Business Unit’s President Carey Smith gave explanations on the procurement projections and said, “The fleet managers examine their new helicopter procurements more closely due to the global economic conditions and therefore we end up with a more cautious demand projection compared with the past years. Even in a more stagnated growth environment, Honeywell is positioned well in a way to allow assisting the operators’ utilization of existing fleets for longer durations with the help of after sales renovations and repairs”.

Honeywell’s projections on helicopter procurements for civil purposes touch upon quite critical points in global scale. The research shows the stability of the ratio of the new procurement plans while underlining the partial stability of the increase in new model procurements in the next five-year period. This, without doubt, brings a skeptic perception of the short term projections.

Brand Exprerince and Technology renewal in the Foreground in User Choices

According to the research, when the new procurements are taken into consideration, the factors such as range, cabin size, performance, technology renovations and brand experience are standing out in selecting the brand and model for new helicopters. In line with the projections, the helicopter fleet utilization is in a downward trend compared to the previous year while the utilization rates in the next 12 months are leastwise encouraging. The usage rates are expected to increase even if just a drop.

South America Market is Ranked as the Second Market in Civil Helicopter Demand

The research also touches upon the expectations regarding the regional civil helicopter market in the next five-year period. According to the projections; Latin America seems to dominate an expectation of forming a strong fleet in the region also in line with the analysis conducted pursuant with the Latin America market results of 2016. A linear accord stands out between the fleet renewal and the growth strategy as well as projections. There is an increase of 8 percent over the world average in the Latin American market in 2016 compared with the previous year. Among the countries of the region, Brazil is ahead of all other regions in respect of the new helicopter procurement plans despite the economic recession it goes through. When the South American continent is compared with other regions, it is seen that it is ahead of many other continents in respect of the demand while it lags behind only North America with the second greatest demand rate.

The light single engine models are standing out in the planned procurements of the Latin American market. The demand for the light single engine models is in the level of around 50 percent and it is followed by the light dual engine models with the demand of 35 percent. The remaining share of the procurement projections are distributed in a balanced manner between the medium level dual engine platforms. When the other regions are considered, we come across with results approximately similar to this market.

Middle East and Africa region holds the second greatest new procurement rate among all other regions as it is decided to make a new helicopter change or addition in the 30 percent of the fleets participating in the research. More than 60 percent of the new helicopter procurements planned in the region is composed of medium level twin engine models. Heavy multi-engine models seem to lag behind as no feedbacks are collected from the oil and gas operators in the region.

Considering the North America region, although the procurement expectations dropped two percent in this year’s research, the light single engine and medium level twin engine platforms still provide a strong basis for demand. In more than 60 percent of North American planned procurements, the light single engine models are determined to be purchased whereas only less than a quarter of the new procurements consist of medium level or twin engine models.

European Market Shrinking due to the Russian Impact

The procurement plans of the European continent seem to be decreased slightly due to the weakening going on Russia’s reported plans. The example set by the Russian operators responding to the research in 2016 continues to remain small in a way to increase the ambiguity on the overall European results. Europeans’ targets for this year are distributed almost equally among the light twin engine models and light single engine models.

According to the research, the demand formed in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) continues to come and go with more powerful results recorded for India and Brazil in 2016 research. The new helicopter procurement plan rates in India and Brazil are way ahead of the world average. While China’s planned procurement rates are regressing, this situation also reflects the short term slow economic growth expectation. The lack of a serious demand for any Chinese production models draws attention in the research; while the civil deliveries continue and this case is reflected in Honeywell’s projection as well.

According to the established methodology, the 2016 projection offers the overall picture of the helicopter sector at a certain point and also reflects the existing business and political atmosphere. In this year’s research, views of worldwide companies operating 3.070 turbine and 360 piston helicopters, over a thousand head pilots and flight unit managers are reflected. The big fleets and “mega” operators categorized separately were not included in the research. The data collected from major oil and gas supporters and from the emergency medical service fleet operators were included in the overall projection additionally to the replies from the flight units. The research also presents the details of the special plans evaluated for the alteration of the operated helicopter types and the helicopters in the fleet or for the addition of new helicopters to the fleet.