The New Zealand Air Ambulance Service Beta Technologies Alia electric aircraft at Hawke's Bay Airport.
The New Zealand Air Ambulance Service Beta Technologies Alia electric aircraft at Hawke's Bay Airport.
It’s a bird, it’s a flying spider, no – it’s an electric air ambulance in Hawke’s Bay.
The future of aviation made a quick stop in Napier this week, showcasing the next generation of aeromedical transport in New Zealand, before its permanent arrival in the region in two years.
TheNew Zealand Air Ambulance Service (NZAAS) hosted the Beta Technologies Alia electric aircraft at its Napier headquarters at Hawke’s Bay Airport from Saturday to Monday.
The NZAAS is the country’s largest fixed-wing air ambulance operator, completing more than 4500 aeromedical missions each year and providing intensive care unit (ICU) patient transport across New Zealand and the South Pacific.
From 2028, NZAAS will have two electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) to conduct its operations nationwide, with one planned to be based in Napier.
Developed in Vermont, in the United States, the aircraft comes in two configurations – conventional take-off and landing or vertical take-off and landing – and was designed for cargo, logistics, and medical transport.
The aircraft features a 15.24m wingspan and a single pusher propeller at the rear, with a range of 215 to 300 nautical miles and maximum speeds of 283km/h.
NZAAS group integrity and business development manager Dylan Robinson says the aircraft in flight resembles a spider when viewed from the ground.
The New Zealand Air Ambulance Service new Beta Technologies Alia electric aircraft next to a more common fixed-wing turbo prop plane.
On Monday, the aircraft completed a series of demonstration flights, allowing those at the airport to see the plane fly in a real-world environment.
Robinson said the service placed a deposit-backed order for the e-plane in 2024, recognising the potential these aircraft offer to future aeromedical operations.
He said the eVTOL aircraft presents opportunities for short, high-frequency regional and inter-hospital transfers, while the Alia vertical take-off and landing platform could enable direct hospital-to-hospital patient transport in the coming three to four years.
Over the coming months, he said, the NZAAS would continue working with Beta Technologies and several leading aeromedical providers in the US to develop the medical interior configuration required for future patient transfer missions.
NZAAS chief executive Annabel Toogood said the main thing was to ensure patients could reach the specialist care they needed quickly and safely, wherever they are in the country.
“Technologies like [the eVTOL] aircraft have the potential to reshape how we move patients between hospitals, improving access to care and strengthening the health system for communities across the country.”
