Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced new funding to acquire seven more emergency helicopters to modernise parts of New Zealand’s ageing air ambulance fleet.
This financial year, a further $12.6 million is being allocated—with $7.3 million coming from Health New Zealand and $5.3 million from ACC—to support the replacement of ageing helicopters with newer models.
“In 2024, New Zealand’s helicopter fleet was the oldest in the developed world, and the coalition government has invested to help fix that,” Costello said.
“Our air ambulance helicopters play a vital role in saving lives around New Zealand. This is particularly true for those living in remote, rural or regional areas.”
Last year, the government dedicated $14.7 million to fund the replacement of nine helicopters.
The new announcement adds to that investment, resulting in the replacement of all the oldest helicopters with a total of 16 new or nearly new helicopters now in operation.
“The new helicopters provide improved safety, more reliable service, a better capacity to respond in bad weather conditions, reduced maintenance costs, greater fuel efficiency and better operational performance.”
“The additional investment supports the move to a standardised aircraft model. This will improve maintenance and fleet rotation efficiency, enable flexible workforce rostering and reduce pilot training requirements across multiple aircraft.”