Gloom to Boom

While the helicopter industry has still a way to go before returning to the boom times of a decade ago, there are still some signs of growth

Australia’s helicopter industry continues to fly through some rough air, but that turbulence is showing some signs of abating, suggesting a flightpath through the gloom that has challenged it for the past eight years.

In our June issue last year, we reported on a helicopter industry that was in a state of flux in the face of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s (CASA) controversial regulatory reforms while coping with a marked decline in offshore operations supporting oil exploration and production.