Fuerteventura gets base for new medical helicopter

Canary Islands will soon have three advanced‑life‑support helicopters, which will help cut response times whenever an aerial resource of this type is needed.

The Government of the Canary Islands unveiled today the new fleet of medicalised helicopters belonging to the Canary Islands Emergency Service (SUC), a unit of the public company Gestión de Servicios para la Salud y Seguridad en Canarias (GSC) and dependent on the Ministry of Health. Attending the ceremony were President Fernando Clavijo, Health Minister Esther Monzón, Territorial and Emergency Policy Minister Manuel Miranda, Island Council President Lola García, SCS Director Adasat Goya, and Puerto del Rosario Mayor David de Vera.

“With this new air‑medical transport contract, which represents an investment of €39 million, we finally meet a historic demand from the eastern islands that have long called for a reinforcement helicopter,” said President Clavijo. “Fuerteventura was chosen because it already has an authorised helipad, allowing us not only to add a third helicopter based there but also to extend coverage to all islands, especially those in the eastern province given its location.”

He added that pre‑hospital emergency care across the archipelago will now have three advanced‑life‑support aircraft – in addition to the medicalised fixed‑wing plane – which will reduce response times when such a resource is required.

The three helicopters will be based in Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura and can be dispatched according to need, regardless of the island, following availability and response‑time criteria. Positioning the third aircraft in Fuerteventura ensures an optimal distance for services originating from Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and La Graciosa, while still being able to assist the western islands when the other two helicopters are occupied. Moreover, Fuerteventura is the only health area in the eastern islands that already has a hospital helipad.

Contract Details

• The new SUC medical helicopter fleet was awarded on 24 September for a four‑year term, with a possible one‑year extension and further modifications.
• The contract was granted to a temporary consortium comprising Avincis Aviation Iberia, S.L.U.; Avincis Aviation Technics S.A.U.; and Avincis Aviation España, S.A.U.
• The fleet is co‑financed by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) 2014‑2020 and may receive funding under the 2021‑2027 programming period.

Operational Scope

The medical helicopters are deployed for:

• Transport of patients between hospitals of different levels who require specialised care for severe pathologies or accident‑related injuries.
• Urgent evacuations from remote or hard‑to‑reach areas to medical centres.

“This is an essential out‑of‑hospital aerial resource for the archipelago, given its fragmented geography, operating 365 days a year,” noted Health Minister Monzón.

Activity data underline the need: in 2025, the two helicopters previously available were activated 1,148 times, a 7.8 % increase over the prior year. The medical fixed‑wing aircraft, the fourth aerial asset in the SUC fleet, performed 770 inter‑island and mainland transfers (mainly to Madrid, Barcelona, Toledo and Seville), providing in‑flight advanced‑life‑support.

Each aircraft’s crew consists of a commander, a pilot, a medical doctor and a nurse.

Local Impact

“This day is crucial for Fuerteventura because we finally answer one of the most urgent historic demands of the island’s residents,” said Island Council President Lola García. “A medical helicopter based on our island, operating 365 days a year, is a resource we have been demanding for years to shorten urgent travel times and ultimately save lives.”

She added that the inter‑administrative collaboration among the Island Council, the Canary Islands Government and the Island Health Authority has made this and other health‑care improvements possible.

Improvements

The tender includes several technical upgrades:

• High‑flow paediatric and neonatal oxygen therapy.
• On‑board blood transport capability, with a portable analyser for real‑time blood tests.
• Fire‑mitigation system for onboard incidents.
• Universal‑syringe infusion pumps to speed up patient care.
• Digital integration of electromedical equipment, allowing the SUC to monitor patients in real time from the coordination centre and transmit data to the receiving hospital for post‑mission analysis and therapeutic improvements.

“ECMO Retainer”

The contract also incorporates an ECMO retainer, enabling the transport of patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). ECMO temporarily replaces heart and/or lung function with an external machine that oxygenates the blood, used in critical cases when other treatments have failed, buying time for recovery or definitive solutions.