In February 2024, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance announced ambitions plans to centralise the operating base. Currently, the critical care team operate from the airbase in Thruxton, Andover – in the north west of the county, and the charity team are based in Nursling, Southampton.

The charity proposed to move was to a site near Southampton Airport, bringing the charity and operation teams together under one roof, and crucially, bringing our life-saving service to the centre of our community.

Following an extensive public consultation, the planning application was approved by Eastleigh Borough Council, with support from Southampton City Council, Southampton Airport and the local community in July.

The charity is now fundraising for £3.6 million to rebuild and equip the site in George Curl Way to make it fit for operational purposes.

The industrial unit has been used as a factory and offices for several years. While some of the building (mostly the office space) is suitable, the charity needs to raise vital funds for the helipad, hangar doors, crew rooms, training suite and other facilities required by the teams, such as medical stores, showers and locker rooms.

Following an extensive data analysis, we know that the move to Southampton will put us at the heart of more than 70% of our calls, allowing our teams to be refueled, restocked and ready to respond to the next emergency far quicker than from our current base.

The flight times from our new base near Southampton Airport will mean we are able to reach the majority of our community within 10 minutes from take-off. The map below shows the difference in our flight times from the current airbase in Thruxton (blue circles) and from the new base (red circles).

The new airbase has close links to the M27 and M3, which as well as being closer to the majority of patients, will allow our teams of doctors, dispatchers and paramedics to better utilise the fleet of emergency response vehicles alongside our aircraft.

This map shows the distance we can travel by road in 20 minutes from our current airbase (in blue) and from the new airbase (in red)

We know that this move can make a big difference to our community, because when we save time, we save lives.

You can support our future plans by making a donation to our Operation Airbase appeal, using the form below.

We also welcome you to join us in our future appeal fundraising events, including an epic cycle challenge, family picnics and clay pigeon shooting events coming very soon.

To find out more about these events, please sign up to our charity eNewsletter.