The first patients have been carried by Yorkshire’s new, state-of-the-art air ambulance which came into service last weekend.
The £6million Airbus H145 helicopter has taken to the skies over Yorkshire following the completion of crew training and a full medical fit-out. It is based at Yorkshire Air Ambulance’s flagship Nostell Air Support Unit near Wakefield.
A second H145 has been ordered from Airbus and will be operational by the end of the year, flying from the rapid response emergency charity’s northern base at RAF Topcliffe, near Thirsk.
The new aircraft offer exceptional flight performance and will have significantly lower operational and maintenance costs.
YAA Chairman Peter Sunderland said: “It was a hugely exciting and very proud day for us and the people of Yorkshire.
“As a charity we had been working towards this day for so long. Many years of careful planning, research, saving and budgeting have gone into the process to ensure we have chosen the right aircraft for the people of Yorkshire.
“A year after signing the contract, the first of our new H145s started operational flying at the weekend.
“This helicopter belongs to the people of Yorkshire and will do for the next 20 to 25 years. I am very proud to say we now have a level of service which is probably the best of any air ambulance charity in the UK.”
Paul Gowland, YAA Director of Fundraising, said: “For the people of Yorkshire to raise the amount of money they do to enable us to buy these new aircraft is just astonishing.”