LCI Helicopters caps a strong first quarter at 2015 Heli-Expo

LCI Helicopters, the helicopter division of Lease Corporation International, announced new lessee customer commitments at the 2015 Heli-Expo in Orlando, Florida.

The company has also expended its helicopter fleet in recent days to meet the growth in demand for its helicopters.

Part of the announcement including the news that the aviation leasing arm of the Libra Group has concluded agreements to place 10 new AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters in Australia – six with Australian Aviation, hewer they will be operated by Air Ambulance Victoria, and four with Westpac Rescue, which will be deployed with NSW Ambulance.

These agreements come shortly after LCI’s commitment to expand its fleet further with a firm order for an additional 11 AgustaWestland aircraft valued at $125 million (€110 million). The new aircraft, which are made up of a mix of AW139, AW169 and AW189 aircraft, will be delivered between 2015 and 2016.

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Mike Platt, CEO of LCI, says: “Growing numbers of helicopter operators across the globe are turning to leasing as a cost-effective, cash-efficient means of updating their fleets with the newest aircraft available in the marketplace.”

“The versatility of our growing fleet of new AgustaWestland and Airbus helicopters is making them popular with operators from a number of sectors, in particular offshore energy production and emergency medical services where we are seeing good long-term growth prospects,” adds Platt.

LCI announced almost $1 billion in new orders at the 2014 Heli-Expo and has also attracted investment of more than $100 million from KKR Financial Holdings.