Saudi Arabian operator The Helicopter Company (THC) has completed its 100 percent acquisition of global helicopter dealer Rotortrade.
The move follows THC’s decision to purchase a 51-percent stake in Rotortrade in October 2021.
The two companies will maintain independent operations, with THC concentrating on developing helicopter transport infrastructure and meeting the growing demand for helicopter services in Saudi Arabia and the region, and Rotortrade operating as a helicopter dealer.
“It was a partnership initially, but it was always in the pipeline to get to 100 percent [ownership by THC],” Arnaud Martinez, THC’s chief executive officer, told Vertical. “The forecast was around two to three years and we just decided to go a bit faster.”
He said the acquisition will benefit both companies, offering increased agility and capacity for growth.
“From an operator perspective, I think what was crucial as well, was to have the best asset management, and when you have this capacity to operate, to sell, to buy, [and] to lease, you can optimize your fleet.”
Philippe Lubrano, Rotortrade’s CEO said the company was established 10 years ago with the aim of becoming the largest helicopter dealer in the world, targeting 20 branches.
“With the funds we have now, and with the kind of equity we have now in the company — having THC as 100-percent shareholders — we’re going to accelerate that, and we’re going to go further,” he said.
Rotortrade is now targeting growing from its 11 branches and 40 staff to at least 20 branches and around 100 people by 2027.
“There is a roadmap,” said Lubrano. “Right now, the focus is going to be the Middle East, Africa, and the United States — that’s where we want to grow.”
The company now has three offices in the U.S. — in Los Angeles, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A further branch is planned in Texas.
“Those are going to be the main hubs that we’re going to use to commercialize our products, but we also respect it’s a very mature market,” said Lubrano. “You have a lot of small local players. . . . We just have to work hard to come up with a strategy that will work.”
THC is the first national commercial helicopter operator in Saudi Arabia, and is backed by the country’s Public Investment Fund. It was established in 2018 with the aim of contributing to Saudi Vision 2030 — the Kingdom’s plan to diversify its economy and develop public service sectors.
It received its first helicopter at the end of 2019, and quickly grew its fleet to 17 aircraft by March 2022. Rotortrade played a key role in this, said Martinez, offering the company “visibility and credibility” with the aircraft OEMs as it began its dramatic fleet ramp up.
“When you go and you talk with an OEM, you need to have that credibility in this really close knit [helicopter] market — and that was the number one benefit,” he said.
It also gave THC “access to people [at Rotortrade] who are well-known and who know the helicopter industry really well from an OEM point of view, and from an operator point of view.”
Finally, Rotortrade was able to handle the logistics of onboarding the new aircraft.
“They are following [the production], tracking, developing a scorecard system with the OEMs, improving the delivery of every aircraft, improving the process, and making sure that what we get is what we pay for,” said Martinez.
Rotortrade also handled the ferry flights of the completed aircraft, with THC taking over once they had arrived in Saudi Arabia.
“We could focus on our operating growth, on our operation, our safety, while they were focusing on the aircraft deliveries,” said Martinez.
THC then made headlines with orders for at least 43 aircraft at Heli-Expo 2022 in Dallas, Texas, including 20 Airbus H145s and six H160s (with options for a further 10 H145s and four H160s), and 16 Leonardo AW139s (with options for another six AW139s).
The operator also revealed its initial investment in Rotortrade at the show. “We watched them as a service provider and as a customer — we started that way,” said Martinez. “They did the full A-to-Z negotiation and delivery of our first H125, and we watched and then the idea popped up that that would be a clever investment first, and a clever support for THC.”
Rotortrade has been tasked with delivering THC’s rapid onboarding schedule for the new fleet. The majority of those Heli-Expo orders are destined for THC’s most ambitious project yet — the creation of a nationwide air ambulance network in the Kingdom over the course of just three years.
The project — known as Saudi Air Ambulance — was launched just over a year ago, and is being developed in partnership with Saudi Red Crescent. It will span 23 bases with a fleet of 30 helicopters. First deliveries of these aircraft began in May 2022.
The THC fleet has grown from 17 aircraft in March 2022, to 35 today. It plans to reach 46 aircraft in operation by December. This will allow it to provide HEMS coverage to 65/70 percent of the Kingdom, which will grow to cover 90 percent of the Kingdom once all bases are established.
One of the most recent additions to the fleet was the company’s first H160, which was delivered in May and deployed on June 1. Delivered with a corporate eight-seat interior, it went straight to work on a contract with Red Sea Global.
It’s only been a matter of weeks with the new medium aircraft, but Martinez said there had been “no issues.”
“We will see how it goes — especially in summertime,” he said. “But we did an H160 campaign last year, when [Airbus] brought the prototype to Saudi Arabia for the summer . . . and we were quite pleased by the end with it.”