Milestone Aviation sees increasing opportunities in HEMS operations in China, the world’s most populous country. With an annual expansion of 20 percent, the country’s healthcare sector is being fueled by a population that is wealthier and more urbanized on the aggregate, with an increased need for advanced medical services.
To keep up with that demand, the Chinese government has continued to pump money into the healthcare industry, rising from $579 billion in 2014 to an expected nearly $900 billion in 2019. Despite that, the country has only 50 helicopters available for air medical services to serve 1.4 billion people. By contrast, Western Europe has two EMS helicopters per million people, while the U.S. has three per million.
In early February, China’s civil aviation administration released a first draft of regulations detailing the country’s interest in improving its helicopter EMS operations. Based on these discussions, the Chinese EMS market is expected to quadruple over the next 10 to 15 years.
“We have long believed China was prime for growth in civil helicopters and look forward to supporting capable operators as they provide life-saving helicopter services across China,” said Milestone president and CEO Daniel Rosenthal.
A GE Capital Aviation Services subsidiary, Milestone currently leases 10 EMS helicopters to operators in China. In January, it delivered eight leased medium-twin AW139s to Shanghai Kingwing Aviation, the country’s largest HEMS operator. It was the largest helicopter lease placement ever in the country, offering enhanced services to 22 provinces nationwide.
Milestone made its debut in the Chinese market in October 2016, with the delivery of a pair of medevac-equipped Airbus Helicopters H130’s to HEMS999, another of the country’s air ambulance operators.