HI Uplift: RotorLease’s ‘last stepping stone of the ecosystem’

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by Mike Stones
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RotorLease

Rotortrade recently agreed a deal for two Airbus H145D3 helicopters with Dallas-based EMS operator CareFlite.

The operational launch of Rotortrade’s leasing division, RotorLease last month, realises a long-held ambition for Philippe Lubrano, founder and CEO of the helicopter broker and MRO business. “We have always seen our new leasing business RotorLease as the last stepping stone of the ecosystem to complement our brokerage and MRO businesses,” he tells us.

The origins of the new business lay in several leases Rotortrade arranged about two years ago to complement its helicopter sales and maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) services. “Completing a couple of short-term leases, of up to 18 months, made us realise we had the ability to flee the asset, at the end of a short-term lease,” says Lubrano. “When we didn’t find anyone else doing this, we thought we had found a good new business opportunity, which has become RotorLease.”

Set up in the US the new business is designed to originate, manage and administer leasing transactions as part of Rotortrade’s broader financing strategy.

“RotorLease will operate worldwide, with increasing deployment across high-demand markets in Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Africa,” said Lubrano. “The structure leverages Rotortrade’s international footprint and long-standing relationships with major manufacturers to secure access to high-quality assets and ensure strong technical and operational support throughout the aircraft lifecycle.” 

Sustained demand

The new leasing business opened with an initial portfolio of seven aircraft, including Leonardo AW169, Leonardo AW139 and Airbus H145 helicopters. Its medium-term objective is to structure its fleet primarily around Airbus H145 and Leonardo AW139 platforms. The choice of aircraft reflects the lessor’s reading of sustained demand across emergency medical services (EMS), offshore, utility and governmental missions.

Lubrano is in discussion with a range of manufacturers to secure helicopters to add to the growing lease portfolio. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he declines to share how many assets he is looking for. But he does share this: “The order is going to be very significant, and we hope to get our first deliveries by end of 2027.”

Rotortrade’s niche in the leasing market is to offer operating leases and finance leases. It will originate these through sale and leasebacks with operators.  Lease tenures will range from one year to five- to seven-year agreements.

The parent company’s MRO capabilities also enable RotorLease to include maintenance services in its contracts. “We can do operational leases with maintenance included for clients who want only to operate their aircraft,” says Lubrano. He has in mind not just oil and gas operators and wind farm operators but also clients in the EMS sector. “Some people, like public services agencies, are interested in leasing, but they want to make sure that they have a more added value in the lease, and that added value can be the maintenance.”

Mission intensive

Launching RotorLease in the US – the world’s largest and most mission-intensive helicopter market – is no surprise. But the region is not without its challenges, according to Robert Brant, the company’s vice president and head of Region USA & Canada.

“North America remains the most resilient, demand-driven helicopter market in the world, but inventory scarcity has become the defining constraint,” he wrote in the company’s North American Helicopter Market Report, published earlier this year. “With long OEM lead times, access to mission-ready aircraft and the ability to configure and deliver them quickly are now critical.”

Buyer behaviour in the region is shaped by mission readiness, bid compliance and configuration requirements, according to Rotortrade. This is particularly true in EMS and public-service tenders, where operators must often control aircraft at the time of bid. All of which places high priority on acquisition solutions covering importation, reassembly, modification, and certification are increasingly in demand.

The North American turbine fleet accounts for 2,260 aircraft, according to JETNET 2024 data. Bell accounts for 45% of the fleet, Airbus 33.9% and Leonardo contributes 6.8% of the total. Sikorsky accounts for 5.4% of the fleet with other OEMs making up 9%.

Rotortrade’s strategy in North America focuses on higher-value twin-engine aircraft and the expansion of integrated MRO facilities. These include the opening of Rotortrade’s FAA Part 145 facility in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, enabling in-house importation, reassembly, conversions and maintenance and “reinforcing the company’s lifecycle-driven approach to the market,” it says. This follows the opening of its Airbus-approved MRO centre in Tallard, France in 2024,

North America will remain a structurally strong helicopter market into 2026, concludes the report. But operators face a persistent structural constraint: OEM delivery backlogs of two to three years. This will push more buyers towards pre-owned solutions just as owners are retaining aircraft longer, predicts the company. The result is a market defined by strong demand and limited inventory availability. “Growth will be determined less by demand and more by access to suitable aircraft, operational readiness and the ability to deliver complete, mission-ready solutions,” it predicts.

Lubrano’s dream

After the operational launch of RotorLease last month, Lubrano’s dream of delivering a worldwide interconnected civil helicopter ecosystem – spanning helicopter sales, maintenance services and financing solutions – moved a significant step closer to reality.

Lubrano puts it like this: “Our objective is to build a focused portfolio centred on high-demand platforms such as the H145 and AW139, and to provide operators with transparent and efficient capital solutions. RotorLease complements Rotortrade’s integrated model across sales, maintenance and financing.”

Finally, I cannot end our conversation with the Rotortrade CEO without returning to the numbers. Time is short – tempting me to be blunt: How much turnover does Lubrano expect RotorLease to contribute to the group? “Our target is to reach $500m of revenue by 2030,” he explains. “From that 100 million will be from the leasing activity, 100 million from MRO and 300m from aircraft sales and financing. Those are extremely ambitious targets.”

But then he adds with a half-smile: “You know me, if I fix half a billion, it means that, maybe, I will reach one billion.”

 

HI Uplift Dashboard: Helicopters for sale

 

Multi engine

  • Total for sale/lease: 243 – one fewer than last week
  • Percentage for sale/lease: 2.35%
  • Absorption rate: 3.07 months
  • Total fleet: 10,349 – four more than last week.

Single engine

  • Total for sale/lease: 408 – Four more than last week
  • Percentage for sale/lease: 2.99%
  • Absorption rate: 3.64 months
  • Total fleet: 13,664 – six more than last week.

Source: AMSTAT, April 24th, 2026.

 

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