Helicopter Fleet Report YE 2023

PUBLISHER’S NOTE
When it comes to data, there
are a few different sayings that
people often use. The first is
that ‘The devil is in the detail’
whilst the second isn’t really a
saying, just some wise words
that my dearly departed mother
uttered to me many years ago
before my first visit to Thailand:
‘You never know what’s hidden
beneath.’ Both of these are definitely true for this years’ Asia-Pacific
Civil Helicopter Fleet Report.
You see, the name of this report includes the word ‘Civil’. What that
means is that it doesn’t matter if a helicopter is operated for a civilian
operator, or a parapublic agency, as long as the helicopter is registered
on a civil aircraft register then it is counted in the report. Why is it
important to mention this? Well, apart from being a good refresher, it
can also explain why some data has changed from year to year.
A case in point would be this year, where, from the outside at least,
it would seem that the mainland China fleet has decreased. Looking
at the numbers from year to year would make it seem like China lost
some helicopters in the past year, but that’s not the full story. Whilst
some did leave the fleet, the majority of the decline we saw was
due to helicopters being shifted from the civil B- register to military
registrations, thus discounting them from being included in the Civil
Helicopter Report.
Whilst we are on the topic of civil registers, it shouldn’t come as a
surprise to learn that we source some of our data from the official
civil aircraft registers around the region. Of course, that is just the
first part of our research, on top of that our team of researchers
check, and double check the data with operators and owners across
Asia-Pacific.
Having said all this, the civil helicopter fleet across Asia-Pacific still
managed to grow in 2023, although just by 0.1%. Still, growth is
better than decline, and whilst the growth was low, it does mean that
Asia-Pacific’s fleet has grown every year since we began tracking
helicopter fleet data in 2014. That growth has slowly been plateauing
since 2017 when the fleet grew by 5.1%. Since then, it has slowed,
with the 0.1% growth seen in 2023 being the first-time growth has
dipped below a full 1%.
Of course, China moving some helicopters from civil to military
registrations only tells half of the story of the fleet changes in the
country, so this edition our Consultancy Services Director Dennis
Lau takes a deep dive into the Chinese fleet, looking into all of the
changes and presenting a competitive analysis of the different
competing models in the country. This includes several of the
homegrown helicopter types, which are starting to make inroads into
the fleet.
Elsewhere, along with the usual data and analysis you have
come to rely on, we also include a section on Asia-Pacific eVTOL
manufacturers, with our own Casper Zhuang looking back over the
past year to see any major changes or orders that have been placed.
Much like our fleet data, the criteria we have used is that the eVTOL
manufacturer has to has its major operation in the region, which
unfortunately discounts several manufacturers that are inherently
Asian, but have their major facilities overseas.
As always, to end this note, we would like to thank everybody that
has contributed, no matter big or small. Your continued support of
this report, and of Asian Sky Group, is always very much appreciated.
Unfortunately, not all counties publish official data, and some that do
publish the data are woefully out of date. That doesn’t stop us trying
to secure official data whenever we can, and in this edition, we have
the results from a successful Freedom of Information Act request
that we placed with the Philippines authorities. Getting hold of the
official register allowed us to cleanse our data, which in the case
of the Philippines meant that we were able to remove a number of
helicopters that are no longer in service.
Sincerely,
Alud Davies
Head of Research & Publications
Asian Sky Group
2 | YE 2023 ASIA-PACIFIC CIVIL HELICOPTER FLEET REPORT