About Hawke's Bay Helicopter Rescue Trust

The Hawke's Bay Helicopter Rescue Trust is a charitable trust established to provide a dedicated rescue helicopter service to the Hawke’s Bay region. 

Each year the rescue helicopter service assists in over 300 missions within the region. Over eighty percent of these missions provide urgent medical assistance at accident scenes or inter-hospital transfers for the critically ill. The Rescue Helicopter is also utilised for Police; National Search and Rescue operations; education; training and demonstrations.

The service operates 24 hours 7 days a week, and is free to everyone in our community. The service enables anyone in the Hawke’s Bay region who has been in a serious accident or who has a serious illness to be picked up by a helicopter, when it is considered to be the appropriate means of transport, by the Ambulance Control Centre.

The rescue helicopter service area covers from the Takapau Plains and Porangahau in the South to Waikaremoana and Mahia Peninsula in the North East of Hawke’s Bay.

The Trust is supported by the generous contributions made from individuals, families, businesses and organisations in Hawke’s Bay.

The service is operated by Skyline Aviation who are a specialist provider of air ambulance services to the region.  They operate the rescue helicopter services for the Hawke’s Bay Rescue Helicopter Trust and the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust in Gisborne.  The company also provides both fixed wing air ambulance services and helicopter charter services throughout New Zealand from their Napier base.