British EMS charity Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance (LNAA) have today started a short term contract for a second aircraft. The Leonardo AW109 was ferried today from Sywell to the main LNAA base at Waddington, as seen in these images, and thence to Strubby in the east of Lincolnshire where it will be based until 31st August 2021.

As the UK emerges from Covid restrictions and families take up more staycations, it is anticipated that there will be an influx of visitors to the county’s popular seaside destinations. The charity is already seeing a rise in missions across its patch and was deployed to 148 emergencies in April this year, compared with 49 over the same period last year.

LNAA’s Medical Director, Doctor Gareth Davies, said: “As Covid restrictions lift, this summer has the potential to be one like no other. There are of course many great things about that, but we are also mindful of why that could also mean more incidents where someone’s life is in danger in a busy tourist area like the Lincolnshire coast. The need for our service if what drives us and we must respond as an organisation to the possibility that we will be needed much more than usual along the coast this summer. This has given us the push to go that extra mile and put a second helicopter into service for the summer period. We will collate all of that data and what we learn from the process will inform how we move forwards as an organisation but for now, we’re gearing up to be there when people need us this summer.”

Karen Jobling, LNAA’s CEO said: “Exceptional times call for exceptional measures and if we can save more lives by providing this service along that busy stretch of our coast as many people staycation this year, then that is what we will do.”

The AW109 from Sloane Helicopters will operate alongside the charity’s existing helicopter, seen in the image below.  This Leonardo AW169 is scheduled to be returned to current operators Specialist Aviation Services when the new operational contract begins with German operators HeliService International.  See story German operator scores first success in UK EMS market