Taranaki air ambulances announce merger
The new service, called Medi-Flight Taranaki, is the result of a merger of two existing air medical providers, Taranaki Rescue Helicopter and Taranaki Air Ambulance
Medi-Flight Taranaki will inherit its forebears’ aircraft, including a Kawasaki BK117 helicopter and a Beechcraft King Air C90A turboprop.
The charity will continue to be based in the Taranaki region in the west of New Zealand’s North Island.
It will also maintain its predecessors’ contracts with aviation firms Central Air Ambulance Rescue (for helicopters) and Skyline Aviation (for fixed-wing).
The aim of the merger is to streamline operations in the region and improve the response to local healthcare emergencies.
Alongside the merger, the service’s helicopter will be relocated to the fixed-wing base at New Plymouth Airport, near Taranaki Base Hospital. The base will be expanded to include new facilities, including six bedrooms and a shared living space, which are due to open in March 2025.
The same faces – with a new name
Taranaki Rescue Helicopter and Taranaki Air Ambulance logged a combined total of over 900 operational hours last year, including 421 hours for the helicopter and 493 for fixed-wing.
“It will be the same faces ready to leap to action,” said Evan Cottam, the Chairperson of Medi-Flight Taranaki. “The Taranaki community can continue to trust they will have access to lifesaving medical services when needed, whether it’s through first responders at the scene of accidents or transport to specialized medical care unavailable locally.”
Air ambulance operator Life Flight New Zealand announced a partnership with aerospace firm AMSL Aero last month.