Helping THE INDUSTRY AND THE COMMUNITY Reach NEW Heights.

To promote the Australian helicopter industry by working with governments, regulatory authorities and the community to ensure it is a safe, efficient and viable industry readily able to adapt to the continuing needs of the our customers by the pursuit of global industry best practice.

Welcome to the Australian Helicopter Industry Association website. We are part of a vibrant industry capable of conducting a wide range of tasks which until recently could only be conducted using a helicopter. The history of helicopter operations in Australia commenced with military helicopters in 1947 and was followed by the introduction of civil helicopters in 1956. These early aircraft were capable of operating under the Visual Flight Rules and generally by day. Since then we have witnessed the continued development and expansion of the industry to the present day. While there is still a large number of single engine helicopters operating today, the number and complexity of other helicopter types has increased. This has resulted in a wider range of tasks being undertaken, in many cases enabling 24 hour operations, in a variety of weather conditions, over ever increasing distances.

The earlier helicopter types may have had some limitations but the experience gained during the early years was a good foundation for the expansion which followed. The quality of Australian helicopter operators was well known and helicopters operated by Australian companies have completed contracts in India, Korea, Thailand, Solomon Islands, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, to name a few locations.

The pilots, maintenance crews and support staff were required to man the new helicopters. This has resulted in the development of a pilot and maintenance engineer training sector which not only graduates Australian students but also has a creditable demand from overseas students and organisations. Due to the international nature of the industry, Australian pilots or Australian trained pilots can be found throughout the world. It is likely that this training demand will continue for some time.

The Association will continue to work with all parties involved in the helicopter industry to strengthen our operational and training capabilities to meet the needs of the industry. This commitment will include working with the relevant regulators to present a set of regulations which encourage safe, efficient, neighbourly and cost effective operations.

Thank you for joining us on the journey.