The new ambulance jet also brings more safety
Rega recently took delivery of the first of its three new Bombardier Challenger 650 ambulance jets. The new jet has been further developed on the basis of the previous fleet and brings various improvements for patients and crews.
Rega's new Challenger 650 ambulance jet from the Canadian manufacturer Bombardier recently landed at Zurich Airport on the occasion of Rega's annual media conference and was welcomed by the airport fire department with a traditional water arch. The jet, with the registration HB-JWA, is the first of a total of three new ambulance jets that will join Rega's fleet by the end of 2018. For Ernst Kohler, CEO of Rega, this is an investment in the future: "The new Rega jet is one of the most modern civilian ambulance aircraft in the world, and we are thus ensuring that Rega will continue to be able to provide its patients with professional and reliable assistance all over the world in the years to come." Rega will complete the project on schedule and within the budgeted CHF 130 million, according to the statement.
The Challenger 650 is a successor model to Rega's three previous Challenger CL-604 jets, which have been in service for 16 years - longer than any ambulance jet in Rega's history before. The interior and medical equipment of Rega's ambulance aircraft are custom-built: Over the past four years, a Rega project team has been working with external specialists to develop the new interior. The modifications are based not only on experience with the predecessor model CL-604, but also on Rega's accumulated knowledge from almost 60 years of repatriating ill or injured persons.
New weather radar increases safety
In the Challenger 650, patients will not only benefit from wider, multifunctional couches and less noise in the cabin, but also from state-of-the-art technology in the cockpit. Thanks to new navigation and communication instruments, pilots will now be able to use higher-altitude flight routes over the Atlantic, for example. Due to the lower air resistance at high altitudes, the new jet requires less fuel on these routes, which means fewer refueling stops over long distances. Urs Nagel, Rega's Chief Jet Pilot, says: "Especially on long-haul missions, this will enable us to bring our patients home more quickly and economically in future." In addition, a new weather radar increases safety during missions, and an infrared camera will make it possible to fly to airfields in worse weather conditions than today - a safety-relevant advantage for Rega's jet pilots, who fly to more than 400 different airfields around the world every year.
Also new helicopters
Rega is also currently renewing part of its helicopter fleet: by mid-2019, six new Airbus Helicopters H145 rescue helicopters will replace Rega's EC 145 mid-range fleet. In 2021, they will be joined by the three AW169-FIPS all-weather rescue helicopters. Rega is using the modernization of its fleet as an opportunity to update its logo, which is more than twenty years old. The new Challenger 650 ambulance jet with the registration HB-JWA is Rega's first aircraft to receive the new livery.
In 2017, Rega flew 15,958 missions - it was in greater demand than ever before, both at home and abroad. This corresponds to one mission every 33 minutes.
Source: Rega
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