North Sea firm backs calls for helicopter

An oil and gas company that supports an air ambulance charity has backed £6 million plans to bring a new emergency helicopter to Aberdeen.

Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance currently has just one helicopter located near Perth, which is scrambled in response to emergencies from the Borders to Orkney.

This week the charity revealed new plans to raise £6 million to buy another helicopter and calls have since been made to base the aircraft in the northeast of the country.

Jamie Marr, director at Asco in Aberdeen, said: “This is fantastic news.

“We’ve been working with Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance since the start of the year and we really think this could be a brilliant opportunity for Aberdeen.

“Sadly, there are only three air ambulances in Scotland, one which is charity-owned and the other two which are run by the NHS.

“Having one in Aberdeen would be fantastic.

“Obviously you would never want to use it, but to have one available in the region would be really beneficial to the north-east.”