Oceania Aviation’s Airborne Systems team can cater to almost any rotorcraft in terms of developing new equipment for operators. However, they have tended to focus on the aircraft most often used by Australia and New Zealand-based operators. “The helicopter we see and work with most often would be the Airbus AS350, mainly because it's quite a popular craft in New Zealand, especially for tourism and agricultural work,” van Tiel explains. “So, we will most often be producing agriculture spray systems and cargo pods for the AS350.

 “We also see a lot of MD helicopters, both the MD500 and MD600 models. When it comes to Australian operators, the AS350 and the MD500 would definitely be the most popular. We’ve worked on and designed/manufactured products for Bell helicopters, too. However, we don’t see a lot of demand for them as we’re directly competing with American companies on role equipment for Bell helicopters, and these helicopters are a little less common in New Zealand.

 “So, for now, that’s why we focus mostly on the AS350 and MD aircraft types for our markets. That said, we aren’t necessarily bound by helicopter type; our capabilities allow us to work on most any helicopter, as long as the client has the need.” “I think the fact that we have such an in-depth knowledge of the AS350 and the MD500, it makes us an obvious choice for those operators in New Zealand or Australia to come to us for help,” Pattinson elaborates. “Within the company, and within our Airborne department, it’s so helpful just knowing the compatibilities or incompatibilities or the maintenance issues that you might raise with a modification. So having that depth of knowledge on those machines makes our certification process a lot more straightforward.”

 While being New Zealand-based for now, Oceania Aviation has continued to expand its presence into Australia, in a process that the company has found relatively straightforward. “Our initial expansion and growth into the Australian market has primarily been through word of mouth, to be honest,” van Tiel says. “I think often operators come over here and see what we’ve got on offer, or pilots from here who’ve gone over there then go spread the word, which is great for us. Australia has a system that will automatically accept a New Zealand STC and Form One under a bilateral agreement,” he continues. “And a specific one-off modification for a client has meant working with our Part 146 design partner to get CASA approval, much in the same way as in NZ. We consider that process to be fairly straight forward, thanks to our strong partnership.”

 “In terms of helicopter operations, it’s really quite simple and effective with that bilateral agreement, so Australian operators who come here know that our equipment will automatically be accepted back home,” Pattinson says. “So, that’s been a booster for us, but we haven’t actively pursued growth in Australia yet. We’re just starting to build the same reputation that we have in New Zealand over there, especially with our spray systems. I think as Australian operators continue to see how well-built and how easy to maintain and customise our systems are, demand will continue to grow as it has already started to do.”

However, the company’s global expansion hardly ends at the other side of the Tasman Sea - Oceania's AS350 Cargo Pods have been FAA and Transpor Canada validated for a number of years already, and are popular with US and Canadian markets. “We’re also working on getting our AS350 spray system FAA validated shortly, which will mean we can send our most popular product to the USA and Canada,” van Tiel reveals. “This FAA validation is a bit of a timely process but we’re making good progress. Longer term, we will most definitely be expanding more and more into the international market.”

To find out more about the role equipment our team offer or to get in touch to request a tailored equipment solution, visit our Airborne Systems page.