“We are very bullish on the rotorcraft market, and on the future,” said Milestone Aviation Group managing director Robert Dranitzke. The company placed an exclamation point on that statement on the show’s opening day, as Milestone announced its fleet has grown to 143 helicopters valued at over $2.2 billion since the company’s founding in August 2010 and it placed eight new orders for Sikorsky S-92 medium-lift helicopters, which increased the company’s total of firm orders and options for the type to 37 aircraft worth $1.2 billion. The leasing company also holds more than $3 billion in firm orders and options from rotorcraft manufacturers AgustaWestland, Airbus Helicopters and Sikorsky.
Today the company also holds $450 million in unsecured borrowing capacity, against a total revolving credit line of $800 million, thanks to what Dranitzke terms increased confidence from lenders.
