The new Cessna Citation Latitude, as well as the 10 Beechcraft King Air 250s that have been configured as air ambulances, will be used to provide air ambulance support across the country – an order that both supports Babcock’s winning contract bid with Air Ambulance Services of Norway and deepens the relationship with UK-based Babcock.

Bob Gibbs, Textron Aviation’s Vice-President of Special Missions explained that Babcock selected the Latitude because part of the Norwegian contract called for specific speeds and range that only a jet could deliver. “There were a lot of very specific requirements ranging from the ability to start from a dark cockpit to ready to taxi in two minutes,” he added.

Gibbs also noted that EBACE was an ideal event to showcase the aircraft: “The big draw for us at EBACE is you’ve got an aircraft with continental range that you can buy factory equipped for an air ambulance. That’s really the big difference – it’s supported by our engineering and product support afterward and ready to go. The customer doesn’t have to worry about inventing anything.”

Babcock Spain CEO Angel Rodero commented: “One of the factors that sets Babcock apart from its competitors is the flexibility to adapt to the client’s needs, and that’s where, again, our partnership with Textron has proven to be mutually beneficial because Textron has a similar attitude towards customer satisfaction.” He also noted that the partnership still has a long way to go in order to grow and develop to provide similar services elsewhere.