Second lifesaving helicopter arrives at Cornwall Air Ambulance HQ

Cornwall Air Ambulance’s second lifesaving helicopter has officially arrived at the charity’s airbase in Newquay.  

The new AW169, G-CNLL, was brought over to the UK from Leonardo Helicopters in Italy earlier this year. It then underwent several months’ worth of work for its medical fit at Gama Aviation in Gloucester, to turn it into a fully functioning critical care resource. 

The arrival of the second helicopter is a major milestone in the charity’s history. It is thanks to the generosity of the public during the 18-month Heli2 Appeal, which raised £2.85million towards the additional aircraft.  

Tim Bunting, Chief Executive, said: “This is a momentous day for Cornwall Air Ambulance and the people of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. We were the very first UK Air Ambulance service – and our latest arrival today will help us continue to save many more lives and provide the best possible service. Thanks to the generosity of a huge number of people, we now have two state-of-the-art helicopters at our disposal. This enables us to provide the very best possible critical care service to those who need us. We could not have done this without your support, so on behalf of all of us here at the charity, thank you.” 

Owning a second technologically advanced AW169 helicopter will significantly boost the charity’s versatility, capability and resilience, by enabling the crew to attend more of their missions by air across their 365-day-a-year service. 

Adam Smith, Unit Chief Pilot, said: “We’re delighted to now have the second AW169 here with us at the airbase. Several of our pilot team were lucky enough to carry out the ferry flight from Italy to the UK, and it’s great to see that final leg of the journey to our airbase completed today. Robust checks and inspections have already been carried out, and the team now looks forward to carrying out the final test flights over the next few weeks.” 

The aircraft will now undergo what is known as a ‘shakedown’ period, where the pilots carry out approximately 20 flying hours of final tests, before G-CNLL can go into operation. 

The public’s first chance to see the second helicopter up close will be at the charity’s blue lights festival, Helifest, taking place on Saturday 19^th July at Scorrier House near Redruth. 

Book your tickets here: Helifest for 2025 – Cornwall Air Ambulance Charity Festival 

Photo credit: Andy Holter Photography