The trend toward positioning oil rigs increasingly farther offshore is fueling the development of longer-range rotorcraft and possibly new ways of organizing operations, it appeared during the Business and Strategy Conference at Helitech 2014.

“Most growth in the next 15 years will come from longer-distance flights, which makes fuel efficiency even more important,” said Roberto Garavaglia, AgustaWestland senior v-p for strategy and business development. Since a tiltrotor uses fuel “twice as efficiently as a conventional helicopter,” the Italian manufacturer says it believes more firmly than ever in the concept’s future. A tiltrotor with a capacity of 20 to 25 seats is therefore on the drawing board, Garavaglia said. Meanwhile, the nine-seat AW609, which first flew in 2003, is still at least two years from certification.

Offshore operator Bristow CEO Jonathan Baliff said his company is interested in an increase of the radius of action (RoA) for conventional helicopters, up to 350 to 400 nm. The in-development EC225e, for example, will provide a 300 nm RoA with 10 passengers. Baliff is interested in longer-range tiltrotors, too, he said.

He added that to serve more distant destinations while staying within reach of search-and-rescue operations, the industry might consider adopting a hub-and-spoke scheme. An offshore hub would allow the final destination to be farther out, while keeping operations within the reach of search-and-rescue.

The introduction of longer-range helicopters will also likely change regulations governing the sector. Garavaglia noted there is no such thing as Etops (extended two-engine operations) rules for helicopters. “We will have to address this as range increases,” he suggested.