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flightglobal.com 17-23 February 2015 | Flight International | 43

AUSTRALIA

SPECIAL REPORT

G

rowth in Australia’s once-booming

helicopter sector is slowing down at a

time when the industry is grappling with a

series of obstacles.

Over the past decade, the Australian heli-

copter sector has grown by 6-8% a year – at

least twice the rate of the nation’s GDP and

three to four times faster than the general avia-

tion sector, according to Rob Rich, secretary of

the Australian Helicopter Industry Associa-

tion, which was established two years ago to

represent the growing sector.

In 1997, Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety

Authority register listed 650 helicopters.

Today, there are 2,110: 1,314 single-engine pis-

ton helicopters (63% of the total fleet), 554 sin-

gle-engine turbines (26%) and 242 multi-en-

gine helicopters (11%). The majority of the

fleet (767) is based in Queensland, followed by

New South Wales (437), Western Australia

(341), Victoria (271), the Northern Territory

(192), South Australia (48), Tasmania (46) and

the Australian Capital Territory (eight), with

the fleet employed in roles and industries rang-

ing from mustering, resources, tourism, execu-

tive transport, medical emergency and rescue.

In fiscal 2013/14, helicopter registrations

increased by 153 aircraft from 1,951 to 2,104

or 7.8%, which was a “good result”, says

ROTORCRAFT

Regulating

a regulator

Australia’s helicopter sector is

struggling to maintain momentum

as relations between the industry

and CASA spiral downwards

EMMA KELLY PERTH

Rich. “However, the AHIA is concerned at the

slump of growth during the first six months of

the current fiscal year – July to December,” he

points out. During this period, the fleet has

only grown by six helicopters.

“Some industry observers claim the falling

dollar, drought in Northern Australia and un-

certainty about the final regulatory restructure

by CASA may be the culprits,” says Rich.

Last year was “one of the most frustrating

and confusing years in the history of the [Aus-

tralian] aviation industry”, he says. In the case

of the helicopter sector, this involved “wide-

spread misunderstandings between the regu-

lator [CASA] and industry, frustrated by in-

creased costs, complexity of new rules,

non-conformity within the ranks of the regu-

lator and lack of communication regarding

proposed changes”.

RESIGNATION

The year saw significant changes at CASA, with

the resignation of director of aviation safety John

McCormick at the beginning of the year, depart-

ing at the end of August, and a lengthy search

for his replacement. His successor, retired air

vice marshall Mark Skidmore, was named in

October and took over the reins in January.

In the meantime, the Aviation Safety Regu-

lation Review, commonly known as the

Forsyth Review was published. Following

years of growing animosity between the local

industry and the regulator and concerns over

the regulatory reform process, in November

2013 the Australian government launched the

independent review of Australia’s aviation

safety regulatory system.

The report was issued in May 2014, making

37 recommendations and criticising CASA’s

“hard-line” approach. It states: “The current

relationship between industry and the regula-

tor is cause for concern. In recent years, the

regulator has adopted an across the board

ment on the Airvan 10. Of the Airvan 18,
Dauplaise says: “It has not been shelved per
se, but until the Airvan 10 is certificated we
are not working on it.”
The manufacturer is still evaluating the
Airvan 18 and will conduct proper research
once the Airvan 10 programme is completed,
Dauplaise adds.

Since becoming foreign owned, questions
over whether Australian production will
continue have hung over Mahindra
Aerospace. A restructure of the Australian
operation in 2013, which involved the loss
of 39 jobs because of the tough conditions in
the utility aircraft market and the strong Aus-
tralian dollar, intensified concerns that work
would be transferred to India. The parent has
a growing component manufacturing facility
in Bangalore.
The company employs 152 at its Australian
facility, with a further 26 employed at
Aerostaff in Australia, which was acquired at
the same time as GippsAero, and four
employed in North America.
The market has picked up since the
restructure and “things are generally better”,
according to Dauplaise. Mahindra has “every
intention” that the Airvan 10 will roll down
the production line in Australia, he says.
Mahindra is a $16 billion global company
and “fully intends to maintain and grow the
[aerospace] business”. ■

❯❯

Heliflite is the Australian

distributor for Robinson

rotorcraft, as well as

AugustaWestland

Mahindra
A 10-seat version of the Airvan is planned

“You can’t pump aircraft into

a market without support. It’s

hard to support from Australia

JON DAUPLAISE
VP global sales and marketing, Mahindra