Media release

5 December 2012

Westpac Rescue chopper at new Whitianga base from Boxing Day

The Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter (ARHT) will again be based at Whitianga full-time this summer from Boxing Day until the end of January.

While one helicopter remains based at Mechanics Bay in Auckland to service the greater Auckland region, a second will be based at Whitianga during the summer months, providing extra safety for holiday-makers and locals.

It will be the third year the rescue chopper patrols the Coromandel skies full time over summer and ARHT chief executive Bob Parkinson says there is an increasing demand for rescue helicopter services in the Coromandel, with a rapidly growing population of both permanent residents and holiday-makers.

“Our missions to the Coromandel and Thames region have increased by 85 per cent in the last four years and there are more than 200 rescue missions per year to the area by air rescue services,” he says.

The helicopter will be based at a brand new hangar facility being built in Whitianga by the Coromandel Rescue Helicopter Trust.

The hangar is sited on Thames Coromandel District Council (TCDC) land, adjacent to the Whitianga air field.

Contributions to the Whitianga Hangar project can be made by donating at any Westpac branch to the Coromandel Rescue Helicopter Trust Hangar Appeal, A/c No: 03-1578-0116338-01.

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