Milestone agrees lease deal with Westair Helicopters for one H225

Milestone agrees a lease deal with Westair Helicopters for an Airbus H225.

Milestone Aviation Group has signed a lease agreement with new customer Westair Helicopters for one Airbus H225 aircraft, due for delivery soon.

Mainly serving the oil and gas industry, Westair Helicopters provides rotary services in Africa and Europe. The leased Airbus H225 is the first heavy helicopter to be added to Westair’s fleet and will support the operator’s offshore missions in Namibia.

The introduction of the H225 will be “a gamechanger” for Westair Helicopters, according to Edwin Soeters, company’s CEO. The deal made the business one of the first operators in the oil and gas market to fly the upgraded version of the aircraft,

“The addition of the H225 will enable us to satisfy strong customer demand while optimising efficiencies,” he said. “Thanks to the strong commitment of the Milestone and Airbus Helicopters teams, we will be able to operate our first unit in Namibia before the end of this year, before introducing two additional units in the following months.”

Sébastien Moulin, chief commercial officer, Milestone welcomed Westair as a new customer. “This agreement highlights Milestone’s commitment to transitioning the H225 back into the oil and gas market, by making significant investment to reconfigure the helicopter from utility to an oil and gas specification,” he said.

Meanwhile in April, Westair Helicopters has confirmed to Helicopter Investor it had signed a seven-year leasing agreement with MHS Aviation,  subsidiary of Boustead Holdings, to boost offshore rotary operations in Namibia, Africa. The operator was to  lease an Airbus H175 helicopter in oil and gas configuration, with the first offshore flight scheduled for August.