Rostek places seven helicopters with GTLK

Russian Helicopters Ansat

Russia’s sole helicopter manufacturer Rostek Russian Helicopters has placed seven new medical aircraft with the state-owned lessor GTLK.

Rostek delivered the five Mi-8AMTs and two Ansat helicopters to the lessor on an undisclosed date this year. The EMS-outfitted aircraft are now based at the Podushkino heliport in Moscow.

A Rostek aviation spokesperson said: “Given our vast geography and a large number of hard-to-reach areas, the availability of air ambulance services in the Russian Federation is a necessity.

“In 2017, medical aircraft in various regions of the Russian Federation carried out more than 6 thousand flights and evacuated 8 thousand patients, of which more than 1,500 thousand children, including almost 700 children under one year old.”

GTLK also has plans to place eight medical Ansatov helicopters and six more Mi-8AMTs in the Russian Federation in 2018. Last year, GTLK leased 29 medical helicopters throughout Russia and it looks to increase this number to 31 in 2018.

In the manufacturers magazine, it says the 31 aircraft that will be leased this year consist of 12 Ansats, 13 Mi-8AMTs and six Mi-8MTV-1s.

Director General of GTLK Sergey Khramagin said: “Out of the 31 helicopters contracted for 2018, we have signed leasing contracts for 22 of them. The remaining helicopters have already been distributed among the operators.”

EMS in Russia

Due to the size of Russia and the number of hard-to-reach locations, EMS helicopters are required for a high number of medical emergencies throughout the country.

Going into 2018, the Russian Government promised to increase the number of medical helicopters throughout the country after seeing a reduced demand for military aircraft in 2017. To achieve this, the government opened a programme to boost the development of the civil aviation market across the country in January this year, with EMS helicopters being one of the core markets behind the growth.

2017 was the first time in five years that the number of civil aircraft delivered increased. With 17% more civil aircraft delivered in 2017 than 2016.

Andrei Boginsky, general director of the holding company Russian Helicopters, said: “According to the estimates of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, air transport is required in 50-80% of medical emergencies, depending on the region. I hope that this program will continue in the next year.”