It's when you want to go to many parts of Africa the leased model doesn't work that well.
CHC have operated in South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Morocco and quite a few other countries in Africa quite successfully with the dreaded leased fleet model.
Titan lease from Gulf, Everett lease from BRS (not sure about Heli-Union)- and all operate succesfully in Africa.
Outside of Nigeria, BRS, with a high ownership level, don't operate widely in Africa due to the short term nature of the exploration contracts.
Perhaps you need to rethink your statement above?