(Submitted photo/CKOM News)

By CKOM News

Federal Funding

STARS to use federal budget cash to replace fleet

Mar 20, 2019 | 10:26 AM

STARS air ambulance got some good news in the 2019 federal budget.

Ottawa committed $65 million to the air ambulance service in Tuesday’s budget.

Mike Lamacchia, STARS vice-president of operations in Alberta and Saskatchewan, said the cash will allow the organization to purchase five new helicopters across the three Western Canadian provinces.

“So this just really gives us a huge uplift of money to really replace the fleet of our aging aircraft and get back to one type of aircraft, one unified fleet,” he said.

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Currently, STARS uses a combination of AgustaWestland AW139 and Airbus BK117 helicopters across British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Lamacchia said they are looking to replace all of them, particularly the BK117s.

“They’re a legacy aircraft. They’re no longer being built, parts are going to be a problem in years to come and so that will be a challenge for us. So now, we’re going to be ahead of that,” he said.

STARS uses three helicopters in Saskatchewan. The province previously committed to funding the purchase of one replacement.

—With files from 650 CKOM’s Chris Vandenbreekel