Waypoint Leasing (Ireland) Limited (Waypoint), the largest independent global helicopter leasing company, announced that it has signed an agreement to lease an Airbus H145 helicopter to Acher Aviation (Acher), a leading operator in South Africa, supporting offshore oil-and-gas operations.
“This is Waypoint’s first H145 lease for offshore oil-and-gas missions, demonstrating the utility and versatility of the helicopter,” said Con Barber, director of Middle East and Africa sales and relationship management at Waypoint. “We are confident that the H145 will add significant value to Acher’s operations and catalyze future opportunities in South Africa and further afield. While this will be our first lease agreement with Acher, we already have a deep relationship with the operator and its leaders, and we look forward to building on it further in the future.”
“This lease further underscores Waypoint’s global outlook and our growing presence in Africa, where we now serve customers in eight countries,” said Ed Washecka, chief executive officer of Waypoint. “We are enthusiastic about introducing the H145 into the offshore market and believe that this aircraft will demonstrate the significant opportunities for modern light/medium twins in the segment, which has been traditionally served by legacy helicopter platforms. We believe that this will be the first of many H145 leases to offshore operators.”
“We anticipate this new H145 will enhance Acher’s operational capabilities and fulfill our customers’ demand for a fully OGP compliant modern light/medium twin helicopter,” said Stuart Low, CEO of Acher Aviation. “We have found Waypoint to be flexible and responsive to our needs and look forward to growing our relationship with them under this lease.”
Since its inception in 2013, Waypoint has been active in supporting oil-and-gas, utility, firefighting and other industrial-focused helicopter operators. Waypoint’s portfolio includes more than 140 aircraft for 28 customers in 30 countries with total assets in excess of $1.6 billion.
Additionally, Waypoint has firm and option orders with aircraft manufacturers for more than 110 helicopters valued at more than $1.3 billion, to be delivered over the next five years.
