HI Uplift: Lobo Leasing sells stake and meeting the new ACH boss

Dan Roberts, CEO of Lobo Leasing pictured at this year's Helicopter Investor London conference.

Helicopter leasing platform Lobo Leasing has agreed to sell a majority stake in its business to Reichmuth Infrastructure, a European infrastructure asset manager. The investment is designed to grow Lobo’s position as a leading mission-critical aircraft leasing platform, supported by secured funding for aircraft leases to operators across OECD countries.

Dan Roberts, CEO, Lobo Leasing welcomed the new partnership. “Both organisations bring deep aviation-sector experience and a shared commitment to long-term, sustainable growth,” he said. “This transaction gives Lobo Leasing the backing of Reichmuth Infrastructure’s highly- experienced team and enables us to invest directly with our own balance sheet. We look forward to using these new capabilities in close alignment with our existing investor clients.”

Filippo Rima, chief investment officer, Reichmuth Infrastructure said the business has worked closely with Lobo Leasing for many years and has been impressed by its team and its operations. “This partnership is a natural next step and will support the continued growth of a leading mission-critical aircraft leasing platform serving essential sectors such as firefighting, emergency medical services and natural resource operations,” said Rima.

The partners said clients will benefit from increased financial capacity, greater flexibility in transaction structuring, faster execution and access to a broader network of industry relationships. “The enlarged management team and strong capital base will support continued fleet growth and larger, more complex transactions, while preserving Lobo Leasing’s entrepreneurial culture, independence and customer-focused approach,” they said in a joint statement.

New boss takes helm at ACH

Former military rotary pilot Nicolas Boltoukhine was named as the new head of Airbus Corporate Helicopters (ACH) last week. He takes over the helm of the business aviation brand of Airbus Helicopters from Frederic Lemos.  During a press briefing, Boltoukhine highlighted the synergy between Airbus’s civil and military platforms and identified key growth markets for the business he leads.

Drawing on his 40 years of aviation industry experience and speaking in a personal capacity, Boltoukhine told us: “Something that seems quite close between the military market and the corporate helicopters market is about the kind of equipment you may need as governmental operators in terms of radio equipment or countermeasure equipment.” 

He added: “There are probably some sidesteps that the ACH will take from the military market. And that’s probably the kind of equipment … so we are working close together on that kind of subject. And especially for the big babies, meaning the H225 series and the H175. So, of course, we are working with my colleagues from the military side on that kind of subject.”

Answering our question about the status of the manufacturer’s supply chain, Boltoukhine said, again in a personal capacity: “We obviously share the same way we build helicopters. So, when it comes to engines, rotors, main gearboxes, we are leaving at the same time, in the same way we produce helicopters for both military and corporate. We are in the market of the military guys. Airbus is ramping up on that aspect and to share with slot times in the productions.”

Back on corporate ground, the new head of ACH looked forward to the business’ 10th anniversary next year. “ACH has gone from strength to strength,” he said. “First, a year-on-year growth of 20% on average with next to 700 aircraft booked. We have plenty of new customers and many collaborations worldwide.” Airbus Business Aviation is the only aerospace manufacturer to have “a dedicated fixed and rotary wing PBA [private and business aviation] offering”, he added.

Forging industry partnerships is key to unlocking exclusive markets, said Boltoukhine. Two examples are superyachts and luxury vehicles. ACH is working with superyacht broker Edmiston, yacht designers and the industry safety group Maritime Aviation to develop the helicopter transfer market for luxury vessels. (This week, ACH is showing its new ACH140 demonstrator, first exhibited this year at Verticon in Dallas, at the Monaco Yacht Show).

In the luxury automotive sector Boltoukhine pledged to refresh existing partnerships with luxury car manufacturers. This includes brands such as the ACH-130 Aston Martin editions, which has sold 30 aircraft limited editions and the H145 Mercedes-Benz edition partnership launched in 2010.

Asked to identify the most promising growth markets for ACH, Boltoukhine highlighted the traditional markets of North America and Europe. He also added: “We are working in the Middle East, for sure, and Latin America because the market is really well developed on our side. I’m pretty sure that all our competitors are looking at the same direction that we are looking at.”

In his new role, the former French Army, Gazelle tank-busting pilot is responsible for driving global strategy, operations and marketing for ACH worldwide. Olivier Michalon, executive vice-president Global Business at Airbus Helicopters highlighted both his aviation and business credentials.

“Nicolas’ combined operational expertise as a pilot and proven leadership in commercial aviation make him uniquely qualified to lead ACH into its next chapter of growth,” he said. “At the same time, we express our deep gratitude to Frederic Lemos for building ACH into the premier corporate helicopter brand it is today.”

Meanwhile, Boltoukhine joined the manufacturer in 2022 as marketing manager of the H160 programme for Airbus Helicopters. Before joining Airbus he worked as a rotary and fixed-wing pilot and aviation manager at French charter group Oya Vendée Hélicoptères.

HI Uplift Dashboard: Helicopters for sale

Multi engines

• Total for sale/lease: 232 – two fewer than last week
• Percentage for sale/lease: 2.24%
• Absorption rate: 3.318 months
• Total fleet: 10,369 – 12 fewer than last week.

Single engine

• Total for sale/lease: 418 – one fewer than last week
• Percentage for sale/lease: 3.05%
• Absorption rate: 3.88 months
• Total fleet: 13,684 – two more than last week.

Source: AMSTAT, September 18th, 2026