Air Ambulance relocates to new base at airport
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance has completed its move to its new airbase.
The £3.6 million facility at Southampton Airport will also house its charity headquarters.
Since the service launched in 2007 its crews have operated out of Thruxton, near Andover.
The charity says that around 70% of the emergencies it responds to occur in the south of the region, near cities like Winchester, Southampton and Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.
By being based in the north of Hampshire previously, journey times could take up to 20 minutes.
The new location will mean it gets to patients quicker and saves fuel and funding.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance CEO, Richard Corbett, said: "The support we have received from members of the public, businesses, organisations, community groups, trusts and foundations has been astonishing.
"It is now our turn to repay the faith that has been placed in us and continue developing as an organisation in our new home, saving and changing lives for many years to come," he added.
The new two-storey site includes a hangar for the helicopter, a helipad, offices, crew accommodation, training and briefing rooms and a garage for emergency response vehicles.
