Milestone Aviation Group, a subsidiary of

AerCap AerCap Holdings N.V. is an Irish aircraft leasing company based in Dublin. It became the largest aircraft leasing company in the world after acquiring International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) in 2014, then GECAS from General Electric in 2 ...

, is an

aircraft leasing Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide tempora ...

company focused on

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribut ...

s. As of December 31, 2021, it owned 355 helicopters, which are leased to companies including

CHC Helicopter CHC Helicopter is a Texas-based helicopter services company. CHC Helicopter maintains it global headquarters in Irving, Texas and operates more than 250 aircraft in 30 countries around the world. CHC's major international operating units are b ...

Bristow Helicopters Bristow Helicopters Limited is a British civil helicopter operator originally based at Aberdeen Airport, Scotland, which is currently a part of the U.S.-based Bristow Group (, S&P 600 component) which in turn has its corporate headquarters in ...

Saudi Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ar, أرامكو السعودية '), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company) or simply Aramco, is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. , it is one of ...

, and

Babcock International Babcock International Group plc is a British aerospace, defence and nuclear engineering services company based in London, England. It specialises in managing complex assets and infrastructure. Although the company has civil contracts, its main b ...

. The company has international offices in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

and

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...

History

Milestone Aviation Group was founded in August 2010 by

Richard Santulli Richard T. Santulli (born August 14, 1944), is an American businessman. He is the founder and chairman of Milestone Aviation Group, a helicopter and business jet leasing company. He is best known for pioneering the concept of fractional jet owne ...

, who was responsible for the growth of

NetJets NetJets Inc. is an American company that sells fractional ownership shares in private business jets. Founded as Executive Jet Airways in 1964, it was later renamed Executive Jet Aviation. NetJets became the first private business jet chart ...

into a multinational corporation, with a $500 million investment from two private equity companies: Jordan Co. and Nautic Partners LLC. In August 2012, the company placed one of the largest-ever helicopter orders: 22 aircraft for $682 million, primarily to serve the

petroleum industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of hydrocarbon exploration, exploration, extraction of petroleum, extraction, oil refinery, refining, Petroleum transport, transportation (of ...

. In June 2015, the company was acquired by

GE Capital Aviation Services GECAS (GE Capital Aviation Services) was an Irish–American commercial aviation financing and leasing company. AerCap acquired the company from GE Capital on November 1, 2021. GECAS was the largest commercial airline leasing/financing company i ...

for $1.775 billion plus the assumption or payoff of Milestone’s existing debt. In November 2021, GE Capital Aviation Services was acquired by

References

{{Aircraft leasing companies 2010 establishments in Ireland Aircraft leasing companies Colts Neck Township, New Jersey Companies based in Dublin (city) Economy of Columbus, Ohio Multinational companies headquartered in the Republic of Ireland Transport companies established in 2010 Transport companies of the Republic of Ireland