HI Uplift: GDAT Global targets short-term contracts in Africa and Asia

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by Mike Stones

16 October 2026

GDAT Global has access to its parent company's fleet of Airbus H225s. (Photocredit: Airbus Helicopters).

Joseph Kearton, the new CEO of GDAT Global, knows all about good landings, having served as an attack helicopter landing point commander with British Army Air Corps. It will be useful experience – alongside his previous roles as general counsel with lessor GD Helicopter Finance and operator NHV Group and elsewhere.

GDAT what? It’s the new business launched this month by Chinese helicopter entrepreneur Peter Jiang, owner and chairman of GDAT and GDHF. The venture aims to replicate the services offered by its parent company in world markets – with a particular focus on Africa and Asia.

In China, the group provides helicopter sales and leasing, maintenance and modification, offshore transport, emergency rescue and government service flights. It operates the world’s largest fleets of Airbus H225 heavy helicopters and, via GDHF, Airbus H160s super mediums with an order book of nearly 100 aircraft.

So, where to begin the mission to bring GDAT services to customers worldwide? The group sees significantly underserved demand in supplying aircraft on much shorter contracts than the industry standard.

Disaster relief missions

Now is a good time to launch GDAT Global – “the international operations arm of GDAT Group” – Kearton tells us. “A unique moment in the industry” is seeing different factors combine to drive demand for helicopters up and their supply down. Wars and rising geopolitical tensions are encouraging governments to boost energy production and search for new sources of oil and gas. Plus, military airframes are in demand. Plus, disaster relief missions and firefighting are growing ever more important.

“You’ve also got this strange turning point where lots of the aircraft that came into the industry over the past 20 years are now ageing out,” he says. “So, there’s a supply and demand curve with not enough aircraft and rising demand. That’s changing the dynamics in the industry.”

For example, the Brazilian market is hungry for helicopters. Aircraft that might now be starting their secondary life flying humanitarian missions in Africa are remaining in the South American oil and gas sector. Also, sanctions against Russia, after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, means operators cannot find parts for helicopters such as the Mil Mi-8 or Kamov models. “So, on the humanitarian side everyone’s looking for western helicopters but they are not easy to come by,” says Kearton.

H225s and H160s

What distinguishes Global is its access to a large pool of helicopters available at short notice, he tells us. In addition to H225s and H160s, the new business can also source H175s, AW189s and other types – “all of which are the core models for different industries including oil and gas and search and rescue”. The group also operates an authorised Airbus Helicopter service centre in China.

It’s not simply access to aircraft that will differentiate GDAT Global from its competitors. The new business also aims to provide flexible solutions delivering lift at short notice and on shorter term contracts than the industry standard. “Our mission is to give a solution to the people that currently don’t have a solution,” says Kearton.

“We see a world [typically but not exclusively in Africa and Asia] where jobs – such as oil exploration and humanitarian work – rely on transport by boats or vehicles that would be better suited to helicopters. So, my job is to speak to these people and tell them we have access to helicopters straight away and we think this would be a better, faster, safer and more efficient form of travel [compared with surface-based solutions] for you.”

‘Super, super flexible’

A key differentiator for GDAT Global is contract length. “Many financiers and banks insist on 10-year contracts,” he explains. “But we are happy to open new markets by taking short-term contracts – either or wet or dry leases.” That means contracts of six months or a year supplying helicopters in remote locations. “We would also obviously welcome longer-term contracts but our USP is that we can be super, super flexible.”

Kearton does not see the venture as a competitor to existing businesses but rather as a “force multiplier” working with industry peers to unlock the potential of new markets. “We can go and do the groundwork, work with them and see if we can convert some boat and road travel to helicopter flights,” he adds.

This might involve drawing on the services of its sister company GDHF as a lessor while GDAT Global works as an operator in partnership with others in the region. (But he’s keen to stress that while both companies have the same owner, they are run as entirely separate businesses).

Both on and offshore

Attractive markets include the oil and gas sector – both on and offshore contracts – in Africa and Asia, search and rescue in addition to humanitarian work with partners such as United Nations, Red Cross and World Food Programme. (It has no plans to operate in the North Sea).

The new CEO believes he can draw on a wealth of expertise on key missions – including disaster relief – from the operations of its parent company in China.

Jiang, owner and chairman of GDAT Group praised Kearton’s wide industry experience. “I have appointed Joseph because of his deep understanding of the helicopter industry and his focus on customers and safety,” he said earlier this month. “He knows the operators, the missions and the markets we are entering. With Joseph leading GDAT Global, we will take the capability GDAT has built in offshore, SAR, HEMS and humanitarian operations to customers around the world.”

Kearton’s in-tray

Topping Kearton’s in-tray is a project to mobilise a H225 helicopter ahead of its shipment to Nigeria to fly missions supporting the country’s oil and gas sector. He is also building a small team who can help him build long-term relationships to unlock the potential of markets worldwide.

Meanwhile, more than 20 years ago, Kearton was responsible for the safe landing of Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters under combat conditions. Now, he’s focused on safe landings of a different kind – bringing GDAT Global to safe landings in new markets worldwide. While these will undoubtedly be challenging environments – they are unlikely to be as hostile as those he encountered with the British Army Air Corps.