Following a Request For Proposals (RFP) earlier this quarter, three airlines have submitted proposals to provide airborne services to the Norwegian Air Ambulance - Luftambulansetjenesten (Bodø).
Babcock Scandinavian AirAmbulance (Stockholm Arlanda), H-Bird Aviation Services (ETI, Stockholm Bromma), and Lufttransport FW (LTR, Tromsø) are all under consideration for the contract, which will be decided in June 2017. The successful operator will need to adhere to strict safety and technical standards in the delivery and operation of eight aircraft, pilots and technical services over the period 2019 to 2026.
ANS tends to 20,000 patients annually of which half are carried on helicopters and the other half on its nine Beech (twin turboprop) King Air 200 aircraft. A press release issued earlier this year indicates that they are also interested in smaller aircraft that are able to take off on runways of just 799 metres while still having enough range to reach Longyearbyen, Norway's northernmost settlement.
The value of the new contract is NOK1 billion (USD115 million), presumably over the course of its seven years. The previous contract was worth NOK400 million (USD46 million).
