Australian Helicopters, one of Australia’s leading providers of mission-critical helicopter services, has unveiled one of the new AW139 air ambulances which will be used to support Ambulance Victoria when the 10-year contract starts next January.

One of the new aircraft was on display in conjunction with one of the existing aircraft to demonstrate the change in capability.Managing Director, John Boag said, ‘We were pleased to demonstratefirst hand tothe Minister for Health, The Hon. Jill Hennessy, what Ambulance Victoria would be utilising for its emergency medical services(EMS) from the start of next year.”

“While the livery of the aircraft was unveiled at the Avalon Airshow in February, there is a considerable amount of configuration and testing that happens in advance of the aircraft going online in order to provide world-class emergency response, patient care and recovery from remote and difficult environments.

“The planning and logistics in procuring and supply of these aircraft is an extremely complex process, and the inspection is the culmination of a lot of hard work from all stakeholders including the Victorian Government and Ambulance Victoria.”

Australian Helicopters presently operates two of the five Ambulance Victoria air ambulance helicopters, based in Warrnambool and Essendon, and has supplied the service for the past five years.

The newcontract will involve adding operations at Bendigo and Latrobe Valley and introducing the new specially configured AW139 twin-engine helicopters at bases in Warrnambool and Essendon.

About Australian Helicopters

With over 25 years’ experience in the field, Australian Helicopters is one of the country’s largest independent emergency and mission critical helicopter providers, operating out of 7 base locations across Australia with a centralised head office in Brisbane.

A Babcock International Group company, Australian Helicopters’ fleet includes 18 helicopters with a range of capabilities including day and night, all weather operations, night-vision device (NVD) capability and other specialised equipment for search, surveillance and other key roles. The company’s team of highly experienced pilots, crew, engineers and support staff are led by some of Australia’s most respected and qualified aviation managers.