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Auckland and Northland emergency air ambulance provider Northern Rescue Helicopter has bought another Leonardo AW169 helicopter as part of its fleet modernisation programme.
The near-new helicopter has just 70 hours’ flying on the clock and cost more than $18.5 million, funded by Te Whatu Ora Health NZ and ACC. The purchase follows Northern Rescue’s agreement in May to lease another two AW169s from Dublin-based aircraft leasing group Milestone Aviation.
Northern Rescue chief executive Ian MacPherson said the latest purchase from the US marked a significant milestone in its plans to upgrade to a fleet of five AW169 helicopters in future.
With the three latest acquisitions due to arrive over the next few months, he said the plan was to have four AW169s and one Sikorsky S76 in service across both Northland and Auckland bases by next September.
“At that time, the BK117 at Ardmore and one of the S76s in Whangārei will be retired. The last remaining S76 in Whangārei will be retired once we’ve sourced another AW169,” he said.
Northern Rescue Helicopter is a joint venture between the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust and the Northland Emergency Services Trust established in 2021, providing medical assistance and emergency air ambulance transport to 1.85 million people living from the Coromandel to Cape Reinga.
MacPherson said the AW169s were the emergency helicopter of choice going forward as they had state of the art capabilities and avionics systems, plus large, easy-to-reconfigure cabins, which allowed the latest medical equipment to be fitted and clinical teams to deliver lifesaving care to patients.
“We acknowledge that this deal would not have been possible without the support and cooperation of the Crown funders, together with our two trusts, and not to mention the public of Auckland and Northland for their unwavering support over three decades.”
The new AW169 and two leased models are part of a government investment programme to supply eight new emergency helicopters to upgrade and replace the ageing air ambulance fleet across New Zealand.
In the last three years, air ambulance use has increased nationally by 21 per cent, with the total fleet flying 13,026 hours in the year to October 2023, an average of more than 35 hours every day.
