LifeFlight starts new hangar base on Sunshine Coast
Australian aeromedical service LifeFlight has started construction of of a new Aus$18.5m three-hangar base on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
The new development will deliver the organisation’s most significant infrastructure to the region in 45 years, according to the company.
LifeFlight appointed construction group Newlands as the builder of the three-hangar base in the Aerospace Precinct. The planned 1,500sqm facility is close to three times larger than the current hangar.
The build is expected to take about nine months and finish late next year. The company reports 85% of trades and materials for the new base will be sourced locally from Sunshine Coast and Brisbane contractors. Newlands will have up to 50 people working on site during the peak of construction.
The base will accommodate two Leonardo AW139 helicopters and one Bombardier Challenger 604 air ambulance jet. The fleet delivers LifeFlight’s 24-hour response across the Sunshine Coast.
LifeFlight delivered more than $187m in social and economic benefits to the Sunshine Coast region in the past year. During the 2024 financial year the operator helped 600 people in the region; 19% more than in the previous year.
The not-for-profit organisation has a close relationship with the region and traces its roots back to 1979 when the Sunshine Coast Helicopter Rescue Service (SCHRS) was founded by the late Des Scanlan and others.
The service’s founders, surf life saver Hayden Kenny, Jim Campbell, Rod Forrester, Bill Freeman, Roy Thompson AC and Karyn Moffatt on behalf of the late Don Moffatt, were onsite to turn the first spade.
“All of the founders can look back fondly on what we’ve achieved, especially when we take note of our humble origins and immense progress over the past 45 years,” said Kenny.
“In 1979 when we started, there was no helicopter rescue service and today LifeFlight flies hundreds of missions each year across the region from the Glasshouse Mountains out west to Gallangowan State Forest and north to Rainbow Beach,” he added.
LifeFlight chair Jim Elder said: “The new base is a significant step forward in our capability demonstrated through the capacity to house two AW139 helicopters – the most advanced aeromedical helicopter in the world.
“This is crucial to enhancing our search, rescue and aeromedical services and bringing equity of health care, which is so important to the people of this region.”
The new base will feature three separate hangars compared with the current one. The extra hangar space will mean that maintenance can be completed faster and result in fewer flights to the maintenance hub at Archerfield.
Other features included crew accommodation of six compared with four currently. There’s also a spare room to assist with extra staffing, a patient transfer room to give patients a safe space to wait while the helicopter is prepared for flight and new training rooms.
In addition, there is space for simulators to assist with doctor training and seminars being held on site.
