In its 21st annual “Turbine-Powered Civil Helicopter Purchase Outlook,” Honeywell forecasts 4,000 new civilian-use helicopters will be delivered from 2019 to 2023, marginally lower than the 4,200 cited in last year's five-year forecast.

Purchase plans in North America have risen by five percentage points over a year ago, with 18% of respondents saying they would either replace or expand their fleet with a new helicopter over the next five years. Close to 65% of planned North American purchases were identified as light single-engine models, while roughly 22% of new planned purchases were for intermediate and medium-twin product classes.

Compared with 2018 results, European purchase plans were lower in this year’s survey. Nearly 15% of respondents said they would either replace or expand their fleet with a new helicopter over the next five years. The figure was 22% a year ago. Intermediate and medium twin-engine classes captured roughly 30% of total mentions for new helicopters. Meanwhile, 25% of respondents indicated plans to purchase light single-engine helicopters, down 12 percentage points from last year.

Middle East and Africa had the second highest new purchase rate globally, with 15% of respondents’ fleets expected to get a new helicopter replacement or addition. Purchase plans were 5 percentage points higher compared with 2018 survey results. Close to 70% of planned new helicopter purchases were medium twin-engine models. Light single-engine models were the second-highest mentioned product class in the survey by operators.

Overall buying plans in the Asia-Pacific region were down 5 percentage points when compared with 2018. Close to 13% of respondents said they would either replace or expand their fleet with a new helicopter over the next five years. Light single-engine and medium twin-engine helicopters were the most popular classes, both capturing near 30% of mentions for new helicopters.

Despite limited inputs, new helicopter purchase plans were stable in China, showing that about 21% of the fleet would be replaced or expanded by a new helicopter over the next five years. Plans were up by about 10 percentage points in India.