Helipool, based in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, has purchased five helicopters this year for the purposes of renovating, repainting and reselling them. Two machines came from Norway, one from Switzerland and two B3e Squirrels came from Italian operators. Owner Daniel Hofer has since sold two aircraft in Asia, as well as one in Switzerland and another in Sweden.

“Since 2005 I have focused solely on trading,” he tells EBAN. “The type of completions depend on what the client wants. It could be new paint, a filter installation or a cable cutter. We recently installed a Garmin 500.

“Helipool itself was never an operator. I was leasing helicopters to operators such as Air-Glaciers, including an AS350B3 and an EC130B4. Now I have got an EC120 on the inventory, with only 276 hours. It is like new. I have also got a couple of B3s available for sale.”

Before Helipool, Hofer was MD of Heliswiss, a helicopter company in the heart of the Swiss Alps, but he prefers the current situation, whereby he owns 100 per cent of his company.

“The market is quite bullish and is going up, so the outlook is good,” he continues. “The helicopter world is small, and it is always very enjoyable to see customers returning emails saying that they are happy with the service. It is fun to work with people from all over the world; we don't just stick to Switzerland or Liechtenstein. We have gone as far as Asia, Australia, China, Russia and South America. And soon our first machine will go to Japan.”