ABOVE: G-HMAA will be operational early next year

The Midlands Air Ambulance Charity has purchased its new Airbus H145 helicopter outright, replacing its leased EC135. The new model is set to become operational in early 2025 from the charity’s base at Staffordshire’s Tatenhill.

The aircraft has been funded through “careful financial planning, support from the communities and local business within the region and two generous grant giving organisations, Denise Coates Foundation and The Kildare Trust,” explains the charity.

With the purchase of the H145, the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity will now own all three operational units covering advanced patient care across Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, the West Midlands and Worcestershire. Chief Executive Hanna Sebright described the acquisition as “a significant milestone in [the charity’s] 33-year history,” with the brand new H145 to “further support [its] ability to rapidly reach patients in critical need of our help well into the future”.

The new H145 will replace the charity’s currently only leased aircraft, which comes courtesy of Babcock Mission Critical Services Onshore and has been in service for over 18 years. “The H145 has established itself as the clear helicopter of choice for air ambulance operators outside London,” ventured Lenny Brown MBE, managing director for Airbus Helicopters in the UK. “Its superior performance, optimal size and exceptional reliability will provide outstanding value for money to the charity’s donors and all the people that it serves”.

Alongside additional capabilities to assist the delivery of enhanced patient care, the H145 is also more fuel-efficient than its predecessor, ensuring it will be more economical to operate in the long term.

Having completed initial flight tests this July at Airbus’ Donauwörth facility in Germany, the H145 received a medical fit-out at Airbus’ new Oxford site. It will imminently be transferred to the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s partner Babcock Mission Critical Onshore Services, where its pilots will receive further training.

IMAGE: MIDLANDS AIR AMBULANCE