Air Med has taken delivery of its second Cheyenne IIXL turboprop aircraft. The company acquired the aircraft on June 29 and expects it to be in operation by August after some minor avionics work. The company bought its first Cheyenne last September, but more significant avionics updates delayed its operations until February.

The latest addition will share its duties between medevac work – the company’s primary focus – and passenger charter services. Air Med selected the aircraft to fill a gap in the services it could offer.

“Existing clients were doing longer trips in turboprops and jets but we noticed they weren’t doing that with us, prior to our getting the Cheyenne. We can now offer a broader spectrum of aircraft to our existing client base,” explained marketing director Rupert Dent.

The company opted for the Cheyenne because it was priced more attractively than a King Air, and would enable AirMed to reach European destinations within a day, which is ideal for repatriation services.

Air Med owns 10 of the 12 aircraft in its fleet, including two PA31Ts, one Navajo, three PA31 Chieftains and four PA34 Seneca aircraft.

The fleet is used for a combination of passenger, medevac and freight services.

The new Cheyenne will be based at Oxford Airport with most of the fleet, while one of the Caravans is based in Barcelona.

It takes about 45 minutes to adapt the IIXL from a passenger aircraft to an air ambulance, Dent said. The pilots and crew, who were trained at a facility in France, will alternate depending on the aircraft’s function. Air Med uses specialist medical crews and has access to doctors and nurses when required.

The aircraft has been fitted out to a high standard, with a leather interior, stereo and CD player. It has a club four configuration and seats six people.

Although charter customers are only just becoming aware of the company’s latest addition, the response to the first Cheyenne from Air Med’s assistance companies has been positive, Dent claimed.

The company provides frequent air ambulance services to the Balearic Islands, Estonia, Barcelona and Rome. Not surprisingly, the holiday season is the firm’s busiest time. It was also one of a number of air ambulance companies called upon to help the emergency services following the London bombings on July 7.

As it becomes increasingly difficult for large airline companies to provide repatriation services for holidaymakers, Dent hopes that Air Med will be called upon to fill the gap. He is confident that the market will continue to improve, and maintains that events like the terrorist attacks have a minimal, short-term effect on business.

“Sadly, there are always specific occasions when demand for air ambulances rises but these

are event-specific. The general trend is that we’re seeing scheduled airlines that have stiff competition from budget airlines trying to improve turnaround times and reduce costs.

“Some may feel that they cannot continue stretcher repatriation services and we want to be able to respond to that. As people travel more and journey further afield, we will continue to look at the market and try to determine where we think the requirements will be.”