Sikorsky Announces Sales, Global Expansion

Feb. 14--In its annual visit to the world's largest helicopter tradeshow, Sikorsky Aircraft has had plenty of good news to roll out.

So far this week at HELI-EXPO, Sikorsky has announced that a helicopter leasing company, Milestone Aviation Group, bought three S-92 helicopters. It has purchased seven S-76 helicopters and four other S-92 helicopters from the United Technologies Corp. division in the last two years.

The company is also at the Singapore Air Show this week, and there, announced that, in concert with Mitsubishi, it will sell four S-76D helicopters to Japan Coast Guard to replace helicopters damaged in last year's tsunami.

At HELI-EXPO, Sikorsky announced that Lider Aviacão bought three S-92 helicopters to ferry oil-platform workers 200 miles off the coast of Brazil. That company has four S-92s and 42 S-76 helicopters, Sikorsky said.

The Korea Coast Guard will buy one S-92, Sikorsky said in Singapore, which will be delivered in December 2013.

And trade magazines covering the HELI-EXPO show in Dallas report that Bond Aviation Group will buy 16 Sikorsky S-92 helicopters, the largest single order for S-92s ever recorded. Sikorsky will begin delivering the aircraft in groups of four-to-five a year starting in the second quarter of 2013.

Sikorsky only sold 19 S-92s last year.

The company operates more than 300 helicopters, for oil and gas offshore platforms and emergency rescue missions. It is expanding into Australia and the Far East, the reports said.

The S-92 is built in Coatesville, Pa., but Sikorsky plans to begin building them in India, as well.

In other globalization news, Sikorsky announced it's opening a sales office in Malaysia, and it signed a memorandum of understanding with Mexican helicopter service provider ASESA (Aeroservicios Especializados, S.A. de C.V.) to consider giving service business for the Mexican military and federal police BLACK HAWKs to the company, and possibly to start assembling BLACK HAWKs in Mexico, as well.

BLACK HAWKs are assembled in Stratford, Conn., and in Poland.

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