TAAS announces new base plans

The Air Ambulance Service’s (TAAS), a UK-based charity that operates emergency air medical services across parts of central England, has announced plans to relocate to a new base near Catthorpe, in the county of Leicestershire.

The £14 million base will replace TAAS’s existing facilities at Coventry Airport, which is due to close in June 2026. Despite this, TAAS has been granted permission to continue operations from the site until the new base is completed.

The purpose-built base would house two helicopters and two critical care cars, as well as facilities for crewmembers including bedrooms, rest areas, a gym, training facilities, and incident simulation rooms.

TAAS will operate two services from the site – Your Local Air Ambulance, an emergency air ambulance service covering the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Rutland, and Warwickshire, and the National Children’s Air Ambulance, which conducts long-distance pediatric and neonatal transfers.

Planning permission has not yet been granted, but the charity hopes to begin operations from the new site sometime next year.

Devon and Somerset Air Ambulance also recently announced its intention to develop a new base in Yeovil, in the county of Somerset in southern England.