17-Feb-2010 Source: Eastern Atlantic Helicopters
As many of the world’s helicopter OEMs are scrambling to recover from cancelled and declining orders, Eastern Atlantic Helicopters Ltd is closing the books on its best year ever. The company delivered 19 helicopters and logged sales of $25 million in 2009.
With offices in England and the U.S., Eastern Atlantic specializes in sales of new and pre-owned Enstrom and MD Helicopters and is the sole U.K. distributor for both manufacturers.
“Customers are being much more judicious because credit is so tight,†said Simon Oliphant-Hope, the company’s Managing Director. “More operators are considering a pre-owned aircraft because it can often do the same job for less capital outlay.â€
Last year’s deliveries included a combination of five new and 14 pre-owned helicopters. In addition to Enstrom and MD models, the company sold a range of Agusta, Bell, and Robinson aircraft to customers in nations that included Belgium, Germany, Iraq, Laos, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and Sweden.
Today, these aircraft are flying multiple missions — from an MD 600N performing long-line work in Scandinavia, to MD 902s providing emergency medical services in the Middle East.
Oliphant-Hope expects that market conditions will continue to favor his business for the next 18 to 24 months, but said his long-term success has been built on Eastern Atlantic’s reputation for excellence (a combined total of over 100 years of aviation experience), a deep understanding of the helicopter industry, and its flexible, creative, customer-focused approach to putting together business deals.
In 2004, Oliphant-Hope captured headlines with an around-the-world helicopter flight that broke a long-standing speed record that still stands today (F.A.I. Section E-1c). Eastern Atlantic helicopters have played prominent roles in multiple feature films from James Bond to Cody Banks.
Simon Oliphant-Hope
Phone: +44 (0)1273 463336
www.easternatlantic.co.uk
Colin Whicher
Phone: +1-480-620-1143
colinwhicher@cox.net