GDHF

What GDHF does

GD Helicopter Finance (GDHF) is a Dublin-headquartered helicopter leasing and finance company founded in 2024. It provides six financial products to helicopter operators globally: Operating Lease, Finance Lease, Fleet Renewal Solutions, Purchase & Lease Back, Restructuring, and Finance OEM Helicopter Orders. The platform targets operators serving mission-critical sectors including offshore oil and gas, offshore wind, emergency medical services (EMS), search and rescue (SAR), government, corporate, and parapublic aviation.

The company's underlying asset base is a fleet of newest-technology, multi-mission helicopters drawn from two leading manufacturers — Airbus (H160, H175, H225) and Leonardo (AW189) — with a stated order book of more than 70 units. GDHF has secured direct procurement agreements with both OEMs, a €77m+ finance facility from Bank of China, and has delivered aircraft to named operators including Omni, Chipsan and NHV Group. In December 2025 GDHF announced an agreement to acquire NHV Group from private equity firm Ardian, which would shift the business from a pure lessor to a vertically integrated lessor-operator upon close in early 2026.

GDHF operates a B2B enterprise sales motion, engaging helicopter operators directly with tailored multi-year lease structures and quote-based pricing. The senior leadership team — CEO Michael York (formerly joint Head of Commercial at the world's largest helicopter finance company), CFO Ray Cleary (aircraft leasing and aviation finance background), General Counsel Joe Kearton (formerly GC of NHV), and Head of Technical Sam Crisp (formerly at Avincis and Bristow) — is the company's principal human asset. Within 18 months of founding, GDHF has secured two industry awards (Helicopter Investor Lessor Financing Deal of the Year 2025 and an Airline Economics Award) and is positioning itself as a challenger lessor to the established majors in a capital-intensive industry.

Name

GDHF

Legal name

GD Helicopter Finance

Website

https://gdhf-lease.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

GD Helicopter Finance (GDHF) is a Dublin-based helicopter leasing and finance company founded in 2024 that provides operating leases, finance leases, fleet renewal, and purchase-and-lease-back solutions to global helicopter operators serving offshore energy, wind, EMS, SAR and government missions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Dublin

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Operating Lease: Flexible leasing solutions providing operators availability and choice of technology, certainty of costs, and flexibility to operate helicopters without the burden, capital outlay and risks of ownership.
2. Finance Lease: The operator owns the aircraft at the end of the lease. Often used to finance new acquisitions or unlock capital from existing owned assets.
3. Fleet Renewal Solutions: Tailored strategies to replace aging helicopters with newer, more efficient models. Enhances performance, reduces maintenance costs, and supports sustainability goals.
4. Purchase & Lease Back: GDHF buys the helicopter and leases it back to the operator, freeing up capital while the operator retains use of the helicopter and operational control.
5. Restructuring: Custom financial solutions to reset payments and obligations, optimize fleet, reduce costs and navigate challenging market conditions.
6. Finance OEM Helicopter Orders: Financing for new helicopter purchases directly from manufacturers, structured to align with delivery schedules and cash flow needs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

GDHF is a helicopter leasing and finance company that provides operators with tailored financial solutions for acquiring and operating newest-technology multi-mission helicopters. Its offering spans six solution modules — Operating Lease, Finance Lease, Fleet Renewal Solutions, Purchase & Lease Back, Restructuring, and Finance OEM Helicopter Orders — applied to a fleet comprising Airbus H160, H175, H225 and Leonardo AW189 platforms.

Product overview

GD Helicopter Finance (GDHF) is an Irish helicopter leasing and finance company offering a platform of financial solutions for helicopter operators. The core offering consists of six service modules: Operating Lease, Finance Lease, Fleet Renewal Solutions, Purchase & Lease Back, Restructuring, and Finance OEM Helicopter Orders. GDHF's helicopter fleet includes four models: Airbus H160, Airbus H175, Leonardo AW189, and Airbus H225. These helicopters are leased globally to operators serving critical missions in sectors including Offshore O&G, Wind, EMS, SAR, Government, Corporate, and Parapublic industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Operating Lease

Quantifiable outcome

• Flexible financing aligned with delivery schedules and cash flow needs

Named customers3 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• NHV GroupflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 December 2025GDHF announced acquisition of NHV Group from Ardian, expected to close early 2026 pending regulatory approval. The acquisition aims to strengthen NHV's position as helicopter operator serving mission-critical sectors while maintaining operational independence.
• Airbus HelicopterscoreTechnology or Integration · 2 June 2025GDHF firms up 10 x H175 super medium options and signed LOI for 5 x factory new H225 helicopters with Airbus.
• LeonardocoreTechnology or Integration · 5 November 2024GDHF signed agreement with Leonardo for 10 AW189 helicopters, expanding fleet capabilities for multi-mission operations.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• AerCap: AerCap is the world's largest aircraft lessor with broader aviation finance capabilities. While not helicopter-focused, it competes for capital, OEM relationships, and large operator lessee mandates that GDHF also targets, making it a broad incumbent comparable.
• Air Lease Corporation: Air Lease is a major aircraft lessor with a broad portfolio and strong OEM relationships. Although it focuses primarily on fixed-wing aircraft, it is a broader incumbent in aviation finance and competes for institutional capital that funds helicopter lessors like GDHF.

Direct peers

• CHC Helicopter: CHC is one of the world's largest helicopter operators serving offshore, SAR and government missions — directly comparable to GDHF's target lessee base. It is a logical potential customer for GDHF's newest-technology fleet.
• Babcock International: Babcock operates a large helicopter fleet serving EMS, SAR, offshore and government missions globally, and acquired Avincis. It is both a potential large lessee of GDHF's helicopters and a directly comparable operator in GDHF's target customer segments.
• Bristow Group: Bristow is a global helicopter operator (and lessee) serving offshore energy, SAR and government customers, with a similar multi-mission fleet. GDHF's Head of Technical Sam Crisp previously held leadership positions at Bristow, and Bristow is a direct customer-side comparable in the same fleet and mission categories.
• Avincis: Avincis is a European helicopter operator focused on emergency services, SAR, and offshore missions — directly overlapping GDHF's primary use cases. Sam Crisp (GDHF Head of Technical) previously held leadership positions at Avincis, and Avincis represents the operator profile GDHF's fleet is built to serve.
• NHV Group: NHV is one of Europe's largest helicopter operators serving offshore energy, SAR and EMS. GDHF has announced its acquisition of NHV (December 2025, pending close) and is already leasing H160s to NHV, making NHV both a primary customer and a post-acquisition operating peer.
• Milestone Aviation Group: Milestone is the world's largest helicopter leasing company and the prior employer of GDHF's CEO Michael York (joint Head of Commercial). It is the most direct comparable in terms of business model, customer base (offshore, EMS, SAR operators), and fleet mix (Airbus and Leonardo helicopters).
• LCI Aviation: LCI is a major helicopter and aircraft leasing company with a comparable lessor model, multi-mission fleet (including Leonardo and Airbus helicopters), and a similar global operating lessee base across EMS, SAR and offshore sectors.
• Waypoint Leasing: Waypoint was a major helicopter-focused lessor with a global lessee base and a fleet of Airbus and Leonardo helicopters. Although its current operating status is limited, it is a directly comparable historical lessor peer to GDHF in terms of business model and target customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gdhf

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about GDHF