The $7 million Pilatus PC-12 aircraft – called Foxtrot-November-Hotel (VH-FNH) – has been purchased with the support of corporate partners, local communities and individuals who have given to the RFDS through donations, bequests, sponsorships and fundraising events.

The Swiss-built aircraft will go into operation as a flying intensive care unit, undertaking more than two flights a day across South Australia and the Northern Territory for the next 12 years.

In its lifetime, it will fly almost four million kilometres to provide the finest care to more than 9000 Australians in need.

RFDS Central Operations' Executive General Manager, Marketing & Stakeholder Relations, Charlie Paterson, said the aircraft was “a Christmas gift to the community from the community. The RFDS relies on fundraising and donations to replace our aircraft so we can’t thank the community enough for delivering the ultimate gift to the Flying Doctor,” Paterson said. “This aircraft will airlift two patients in need every day for more than decade, be it the outback retrieval of a critically-ill patient or the urgent aeromedical transfer of someone from a regional or remote centre to a city hospital for life-saving or higher levels of care,” he said. “At a cost of $7 million ready to save lives, I can’t think of a better return on investment.”