Specialist Aviation Services (SAS) has taken delivery of the UK's first AW169 rotorcraft. The helicopter will enter service with Kent Surrey Sussex Air Ambulance (KSSAA) following installation of an advanced medical interior.

Group MD Henk Schaeken says: “We are very proud to be entering the AW169 helicopter into service in the UK with one of the country's leading air ambulance operators. We have been very busy training our engineers and pilots in preparation for the introduction to service of the aircraft, so we can deliver from the outset the high level of aircraft availability and support that our customers have come to expect from us.”

Adds KSSAA chief executive Adrian Bell: “The delivery of the AW169 is a very significant event in the development of HEMS in the UK, especially in a heavily populated region the size of Kent, Surrey and Sussex, some 3,600 square miles.

“The enhanced capabilities of the helicopter will allow us to further develop and improve the life-saving service we deliver to the community, and the aircraft offers the exciting potential to reconfigure how these services are delivered for maximum effect in the future.”

SAS has also been appointed as an authorised service centre for the type in the UK and will provide a range of support and maintenance services to AW169 operators.