Helicopter leasing group Waypoint Leasing announced the opening of its new office in Singapore as part of a plan to expand its presence in the Asia Pacific region. To date, the Ireland-based group has delivered nine aircraft to several operators across the region, including Bond Helicopters in Australia, Hevilift and National Utility Helicopters.

Waypoint views Australia, and in the longer term China, as the most promising markets for rotorcraft in this part of the world. The new Singapore office is being led by Philip Stransky, Waypoint’s director of sales and business development for Asia, and his team also is targeting new leasing business in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.

“The China market is slowly improving,” commented Stransky. “We expect the market will open up in the not too distant future, but it is still very restricted compared to Western markets or even other Asian markets right now.”

According to Waypoint, the oil-and-gas and emergency-medical-service sectors now present the strongest growth opportunities for the Asia Pacific region’s helicopter industry. “As regional operators increasingly seek customized financing solutions, we are well-positioned to meet that demand and navigate the complex and nuanced aviation landscape adeptly and opportunistically,” commented Stransky. He has worked in Singapore for five years and has seven years’ experience in the upstream oil-and-gas sector with the Seacor Marine group.

Waypoint, which has customers in 22 countries worldwide, has a fleet of around 100 helicopters, including a mix of Bell 407s and 412s. At last month’s HeliExpo show in the U.S., the company signed a letter of intent with Bell Helicopters (Static Display) for 20 of the new Bell 525 Relentless twin-engine aircraft.

The company claims to be the largest independent helicopter leasing company and offers various financing options. It competes with Milestone Aviation, which is now part of the GE Capital group (Booth P400).

“Our expertise is focused solely on the helicopter segment; we are not leveraging off a fixed-wing platform like others,” said Stransky. “Our team is comprised of helicopter experts, with both manufacturing and operating backgrounds. With this expertise, we truly know our customers’ businesses and are able to tailor solutions to help them grow, offering full service support that goes well beyond a simple lease.”