Milestone Aviation, the GE Capital Services company that specializes in rotorcraft operational leasing, signed deals with Airbus Helicopters and Bell Helicopter on Monday at Paris 2015. A previously announced agreement for five optional Airbus H175s has been fattened to firm orders for 10 and options on 18. The H175 medium twin entered service last December in offshore oil-and-gas operations and has surpassed 900 flight hours.
With Bell, Milestone signed a letter of intent for 20 Bell 525 Relentless medium twins, which are in the same size category as the H175. Milestone expects they will be used in oil-and-gas, EMS, search-and-rescue and utility missions. If the letter of intent converts into a firm order, deliveries will start in late 2017.