STARS Air Ambulance to upgrade their fleet.
Jul 6, 2018 18:42:28 GMT
Post by helico on Jul 6, 2018 18:42:28 GMT
STARS to Upgrade Fleet, for $13 Million Per Helicopter
STARS Air Ambulance is getting ready to upgrade their fleet, by selling off their eleven current copters, and making room for nine new ones over the next five years.
Their current fleet is a mix of two types of aircraft, the Airbus Helicopters BK117 and AgustaWestland AW139, and some are reaching the end of their work life, but they can still be used for other, non-medical purposes, says CEO of STARS Andrea Robertson.
“The AW’s have been often used for more business type travel, so you would have to take the medical interior out. Our intent would be to try and sell it to another medical provider, but the biggest use of that helicopter is for more business use. The BK117, there’s actually quite a market in SE Asia for them.”
Their current fleet’s models are slowly becoming obsolete, making replacement parts increasingly difficult to find. Robertson explains.
“What we’ve decided to do after getting lots of independent advice is to move to a single platform so all the helicopters will be the same type. We can move them around easily, one set of parts, our pilots and engineers only have to train on one type of helicopter, operationally it makes a lot of sense, it’s cheaper, and actually it’s safer.”
STARS plans to pay for each of the new $13 million helicopters through a combination of fundraising, selling off their old fleet, and government contributions.
STARS Air Ambulance is getting ready to upgrade their fleet, by selling off their eleven current copters, and making room for nine new ones over the next five years.
Their current fleet is a mix of two types of aircraft, the Airbus Helicopters BK117 and AgustaWestland AW139, and some are reaching the end of their work life, but they can still be used for other, non-medical purposes, says CEO of STARS Andrea Robertson.
“The AW’s have been often used for more business type travel, so you would have to take the medical interior out. Our intent would be to try and sell it to another medical provider, but the biggest use of that helicopter is for more business use. The BK117, there’s actually quite a market in SE Asia for them.”
Their current fleet’s models are slowly becoming obsolete, making replacement parts increasingly difficult to find. Robertson explains.
“What we’ve decided to do after getting lots of independent advice is to move to a single platform so all the helicopters will be the same type. We can move them around easily, one set of parts, our pilots and engineers only have to train on one type of helicopter, operationally it makes a lot of sense, it’s cheaper, and actually it’s safer.”
STARS plans to pay for each of the new $13 million helicopters through a combination of fundraising, selling off their old fleet, and government contributions.
The first new helicopter is expected to arrive in 2019 and will be based in Calgary. It’s expected the remainder of the fleet will be delivered to their six bases over the next five years.
LaCombeOnline, Published: Thursday, 05 July 2018 05:00, Written by Jordan Davidson
Source: <https://lacombeonline.com/local/stars-to-upgrade-fleet-at-13-million-a-piece>
One question remains: What is the replacement helicopter model ?