Still selling well after 20 years 13 AW139s were delivered in Q1.
Helicopter deliveries in terms of aircraft numbers declined by 10.2% year on year in in the first quarter with a total of 168 aircraft delivered in the first three months of the year according to the The General Aviation Manufacturer’s Association (GAMA). Bucking that trend, the report revealed that billing in the period grew by 2.5% compared with the same time in 2025 to USD789million.
Of the deliveries 47 piston powered aircraft were delivered, the bulk of them (34) R44s, this compares with a total of 54 helicopters in Q1 of 2025. Meanwhile, 121 turbine powered helicopters were passed to customers in the period, with H145s the most populous with 26 aircraft taking to the sky nearly twice the next most popular aircraft the H125.
By manufacturer, in terms of the number of aircraft delivered Airbus and Robinson toped the charts with delivering 56 aircraft each though unsurprisingly the former’s billings were close to ten times that of the latter. Another interesting data point was the continued success of the AW139 for Leonardo with another 13 added to the world fleet in the first quarter of the type’s 20th year in production. Another figure of note in the report was the 18 UH-60s delivered by Sikorsky though there was no split advised between UH-60s and S-70is in value.
Given the increasing length of backlogs at all the major OEMs it seem that the prime driver for the delivery slowdown remains the supply chain.
To read the full report click HERE
Image: Saxon Air
