Helicopter Fleet Report - YE2020

SPECIAL FEATURE: OFFSHORE WIND ROTORCRAFT
ROTORCRAFT OFFER THE LOWEST
CARBON METHOD OF CREW TRANSFER
NEARLY 100 ADDITIONAL HELICOPTERS WILL BE
REQUIRED BY 2030
Rotocraft Vessels
Heli Crew Change
(Medium)
Heli-Hoist
(Light Medium)
CTV
We expect the market will continue to favour the latest
light-medium and medium aircraft. The Airbus H145 and
Leonardo AW169 models are likely to dominate, along with
the smaller Airbus H135. In construction-support we expect
to see medium helicopters such as the AW139 and (in the
fullness of time) the H160. Larger ‘super medium’ aircraft
such as the H175 have previously been used in support of
offshore wind construction and may well be used in the
Heli Crew Change
(Super-Medium)
future in this application, likewise, the largest offshore
rotorcraft such as S-92 could be used in some construction
support applications where helidecks allow.
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20
CO 2 Emission per Passenger (t/100km)
In China the H135 is expected to find work in 2021 with
COHC as two units enter service and more are expected to
follow including domestic production.
attractive proposition to support both the construction
and operation of offshore wind farms. Furthermore, we
understand that crew transportation by rotorcraft will offer
the lowest CO2 per passenger mile of any currently available
option and the highest availability to the end user, providing
that latest generation aircraft are used.
Our ‘bottom-up’ modelling process anticipates that the
offshore wind rotorcraft fleet will grow from 27 to 126 over
the period to 2030 (CAGR of 17%). The fleet will remain
smaller than many other comparable areas such as oil &
gas but will still represent a robust and growing opportunity
to deploy modern light medium twin helicopters.
Available data confirm that rotorcraft are by-far the safest
method of transporting personnel offshore and that many
of the leading windfarm OEMs and operators are well-aware
of this and are recruiting rotorcraft specialists and building
helicopters into their future windfarm plans.
38 ASIA-PACIFIC CIVIL HELICOPTER FLEET REPORT – YEAR END 2020