Wales Air Ambulance is asking supporters to name its newest aircraft

In February this year, Wales Air Ambulance announced that Gama Aviation had successfully bid for the seven-year contract to provide aviation services to the air ambulance in Wales, starting on 1 January 2024.

The Gama contract, valued at £65 million, covers the operation and maintenance of a primary fleet of four Airbus H145 helicopters. Currently, the fleet contains three H145 helicopters and one smaller H135. When the new contract begins, the H135 will be replaced by a H145, ensuring a consistent fleet of advanced helicopters.

Under Civil Aviation Authority legislation, all aircraft must be allocated a registration. This means that the Charity’s new helicopter requires registration and the public is being asked to choose what that unique identity will be.

Dr Sue Barnes, Wales Air Ambulance Chief Executive, said: “An aircraft registration, similar to a vehicle number plate, identifies a civil aircraft. In the United Kingdom, civil aircraft start with the prefix ‘G-‘ followed by a series of letters.

“The aircraft registrations of our current H145 helicopters are all Welsh words that represent the service provided by our lifesaving Charity. They are G-WOBR meaning prize, G-WROL meaning courageous and G-WENU meaning smile.

“All our helicopters are funded by the people of Wales, so, it’s only right that our supporters help us choose the registration for our new H145 aircraft.” 

Supporters can take part in the online vote by choosing their preferred registration from a list of options:

• G-IARD – meaning guard.
• G-LOYW – meaning bright/shining.
• G-WYDN – meaning durable/resilient.
• G-YRRU – meaning to drive/send/dispatch.
• G-NHDL – abbreviation of Genhedl meaning nation.

The vote is open from Tuesday 29 August and will close at 9pm on Monday 4 September.

Dr Sue Barnes added: “With thousands of aircraft registrations already allocated it has been no small feat for us to identify a list of potential options. As a proud Welsh Charity, it is important to us that we maintain the Welsh language across our registrations.   

“We hope that our supporters will take the time to vote and we are excited to see what the new aircraft registration will be.”

(Lead image: Wales Air Ambulance)