INAER France, part of the Avincis Group, the world’s leading provider of aerial emergency services, has won the tender for the operation of SAMU helicopters in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) region. The regional contract is the first of its kind for the French Ministry of Health.

Five helicopters for PACA FROM 1st January, 2014
The aviation company INAER will introduce five EC-135 helicopters from the 1st January 2014 for hospitals in the PACA region: Marseille, Avignon, Toulon, Nice and Gap. The Marseille helicopter will be a 24 hour service, and the others will be 12 hours services. The bases at Marseille and Avignon will be subleased to Mont-Blanc Helicopters. The five year contract is the result of a tender conducted by the Marseille Hospitals Public Support Group, and is the first contract signed with hospitals at regional level.

INAER’s ambitions in the French EMS market
INAER is determined to apply the group’s strategy: improve performance through improved techniques and safety. For this reason, INAER’s fleet consists exclusively of helicopters equipped with autopilot. This SAMU contract demonstrates that state-of-the-art technology (INAER is currently the only private operator in France certified for Night Vision Binoculars) can be implemented at reasonable and controlled costs. “By managing multiple bases as a regional platform, which is what the PACA contract allows, is a way of cutting back costs and optimising services for different hospitals to provide a better service,” explains Frédéric Goig, Managing Director of INAER France.

This development is accompanied by growth to the fleet, namely an EC135 T2+, bringing the number of EMS dedicated aircraft to eight, in addition to the nine Agusta 109 Powers also operated by INAER.