STARS receives two new H145 helicopters
Western Canadian air ambulance provider STARS has received two new Airbus H145 aircraft at its Calgary base, as part of a plan that the company unveiled in June 2018 to replace its entire fleet across the region.
Western Canadian air ambulance provider Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society (STARS) has received two new Airbus H145 aircraft at its Calgary base, as part of a plan that the company unveiled in June 2018 to replace its entire fleet across the region.
STARS current fleet comprises BK117 and AW139 helicopters – all operating across Western Canada – which STARS President and CEO Andrea Robertson explained are no longer being built and are therefore becoming costlier to maintain. “Independent assessments of the sustainability of our fleet told us we needed to move from two aircraft types to one,” Robertson said.
The occasion was marked by STARS’ first patient, Kelly Waldron, being transported to the base in one of the H145 helicopters. The aircraft in question bears the official registration marks ‘C-GKLY’, which is a nod to her name.
“Today is about bringing us one step closer to making our fleet renewal programme a reality,” said Robertson on the 18 April. “It is also about paying tribute to the aircraft that have served critically ill and injured patients across Western Canada for 34 years. We are told the lives we help save and the time we give patients and their families makes a difference.”