Operator Overview – Civil Helicopter Fleet Report YE 2025

This article is extracted from the most recent edition of The Civil Helicopter Fleet Report.
To read or download the full report, please click here.

At the end of 2025, there were a total of 50 commercial helicopter operators in the Asia-Pacific region. The top operators in the Asia-Pacific region continued to manage a substantial share of the regional fleet (top 20, 694 in total), which is broadly in line with the previous year’s proportion. While overall regional growth moderated in 2025, the region’s top operators remained nearly unchanged, with rankings stable and fleet movements primarily driven by aging fleet replacement, rather than expansion.

Mainland China’s largest Offshore operator, COHC, maintained its leading position in 2025 in the offshore market. Japan’s Nakanihon Air and Australia’s McDermott Aviation continued to rank among the top three operators in the region, while Aero Toyota (formerly Aero Asahi) remained within the leading group following continued aging fleet replacement. Indian operator Pawan Hans retained its position among the top five operators, with its fleet structure remained stable. Both COHC and Pawan Hans rely on offshore operations as a core business segment, although Pawan Hans maintains a nearly equal balance between its multi-mission and offshore aircraft.

Among the top operators in the region, fleet deductions in 2025 were largely associated with the retirement of aging helicopters, rather than contraction in mission demand. In Japan, reductions were concentrated in AS355, AS365 and Bell 206/412 families, reflecting phased modernization. Toho Air recorded the largest fleet reduction in 2025, with four helicopters—two aging AS355s and two aging AS365s—removed from its fleet. Similar lifecycle-driven fleet deductions were observed among selected Southeast Asian operators.

Five of the top operators were based in mainland China, serving diversified core businesses including Offshore, powerline, forestry and multi-mission utility operations. Many Chinese operators maintained their fleet size lead with large offshore helicopters, while also moving forward with mission diversification and modernization. Offshore business continued to play the main part for the top mainland and Australian operators.

Mainland China’s powerline segment also remained uniquely positioned, with State Grid GA continuing to distinguish itself as the only top operator primarily dedicated to powerline operations, supported by a fleet aligned with grid inspection and infrastructure maintenance requirements.

Looking at the age distribution of the top operators’ fleet, Offshorefocused operators continued to demonstrate a preference for newer helicopters to support reliability-intensive offshore, and search and rescue missions. In contrast, operators with significant EMS and traditional utility exposure maintained a higher proportion of aircraft exceeding 20 years of age, such as McDermott Aviation and Pawan Hans, reflecting cost-efficient deployment of mature platforms within established mission profiles. But as mentioned earlier, we have seen operators replacing its aging fleet with newer models.

By the end of 2025, there were 423 government-operated noncommercial helicopters in the Asia-Pacific region, representing 10.1% of the total regional fleet. This figure remained unchanged compared with the previous year.

Among the top non-commercial operators, Japan continued to dominate in both scale and mission diversity, with the Japan National Police, Japan Coast Guard, Japan Prefectural Air Rescue and Japan Fire Department collectively representing the largest concentration of government-operated helicopter fleets in the region, with overall fleet size remained stable year-on-year. In 2025, the Japan National Police introduced two Airbus H160 helicopters into service, marking the entry of a new-generation platform to support law enforcement and related operations.

South Korea retained its second-place position among government operators, with minor fleet adjustments reflecting lifecycle management rather than changes in mission structure. The Korea Forest Service operates one of the country’s largest government helicopter fleets, primarily supporting firefighting operations, alongside search and rescue and emergency medical service missions.

Among the top government operators in the region, China’s Ministry of Transport (MOT) maintained a stable fleet in 2025 following the previous year’s significant modernization and expansion with Super Medium platforms, including Airbus H175 and Leonardo AW189 helicopters. The fleet continued to be fully dedicated to Search and Rescue missions.

This article is extracted from the most recent edition of The Civil Helicopter Fleet Report.
To read or download the full report, please click here.