BEAUFORT WEST NEWS - At the start of the festive season with heavy traffic loads on the N1, the international airfield at Beaufort West was this morning launched as the new landing place for Western Cape Government’s EMS aeroplanes and helicopters.

Beaufort West Municipality sold the airfield eight years ago to well-known business woman, Dr Bambie Heiberg, who committed her efforts to upgrade the Karoo Gateway Airport with a new airfield with a newly tarred main runway 30 m x 1485 m with night landing lights and air traffic controllers.

The previous runway was gravel and could often not be used after heavy rains, as an example. Night landings were done with the aid of cars being positioned strategically along the runway.

The SA Red Cross Air Mercy Service (AMS) works in partnership with Western Cape Government Health Emergency Medical Services to provide an aero-medical service to the community of the Western Cape. This service is rendered to the community via the AMS fleet of fixed wing and rotor wing aircraft.

In the Western Cape the AMS provides the Air Ambulance Service via a Pilatus PC 12 Fixed Wing and two AgustaWestland 119Ke helicopters. The Pilatus PC 12 is a fully equipped 24-hour air ambulance with a dedicated medical intensive care-type interior and is perfect for short strip landings. The aircraft has the capacity of nine seating patients or three stretcher patients.

The fixed wing aircraft conducts daily missions to George, providing Advanced Life Support (ALS) aero-medical care and transporting patients who are critically ill or injured to tertiary hospitals in Cape Town. Beaufort-West is a critical access point to providing rural communities with access to healthcare.

“Together with the Western Cape Department of Health, the AMS is privileged and excited to participate supporting the building of aviation infrastructure that will facilitate access to equitable healthcare to all communities in need. We hope that stakeholders in the area will support this critical service going forward” said Dr Philip Erasmus, AMS CEO.

Dr Heiberg said that there are great plans for the Karoo Gateway Airport. “There is the establishment of an international flying school in 2015, as well as a tourism development, and weekly scheduled flights to Beaufort West.”