New Medevac/Air Ambulance Assets for Greece

Soon, the Elliniki Polemiki Aeroporia (HAF, HellenicAir Force) will receive brand new air ambulance and medevac assets. Just recently, photos emerged of two Beechcraft 350C Super King Air at Fargo Jet Center, headquartered at Fargo (ND). Furthermore, photos of Leonardo AW109S Trekker helicopters, making test flights from Venegono Superiore (VA), Italy, surfaced recently.

The aircraft will be used by the National Centre for Emergency Care (EKAB - Eθνικό Κέντρο Άμεσης Βοήθειας) and are part of a GBP 25 million donation programme by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The Beechcraft will join the 356 MTM fleet while the AW109S will join 384 MED.

356 MTM is operating the C-130H Hercules, while 384 MED operates the AS332C1 Super Puma. The new aircraft will be operating from 112 PM/Elefsis air base by crews that will be shared between the different types and missions. Deliveries are expected within the next 2-3 months. As part of the donation package, two out of three Agusta A109E already in service with EKAB will also be repaired. They have been unserviceable for years and are stored. The Agusta A109Es were operated by 358 MED at Elefsis.

The original order of the two Beechcraft 350Cs dates back to June 2019 and on 6 July 2020 the order was announced by Textron Aviation, with Sundt Air acting as the main contractor. EKAB tried to incorporate fixed-wing aircraft in its inventory before. This turned out to be a fiasco. The ordered aircraft – two Piaggio P180 Avanti – were unsuitable for the task because of the small cargo doors that did not accommodate for a proper entry point for emergency stretchers. The aircraft were sold off directly after delivery and never saw operational service with EKAB.

The Super King Air 350Cs are equipped with a proper cargo door and they are fitted with the Aeromed Spectrum Dual-Stretcher Patient Loading System which includes redesigned stretchers to accommodate bariatric patients and incubators raised by electrically powered loading devices.

EKAB fleet overview:

P-180 Avanti (never taken up)
SX-BNC (c/n 1036) to N126PA apr01
SX-BND (c/n 1038) to N122PA may02
A109E
11059 (c/n 11059, ex SX-HDQ) 358 MED l/n nov12
11063 (c/n 11063, ex SX-HDS) 358 MED l/n oct14
11070 (c/n 11070, ex SX-HDU) 358 MED l/n nov12
Also operated by EKAB, but crashed during their service were: SX-HDR (c/n 11060) w/o 17jun02, SX-HDT (c/n 11066) w/o 14jan01 and SX-HDV (c/n 11096) w/o 11feb03. The crashes resulted in the transfer of the A109E to the Hellenic Air Force.
AW109S (serials to be confirmed)
22701? (c/n 22701, ex I-RAIE/I-RAIX) seen sep20
22704? (c/n 22704, ex I-PTFP/I-EASR) seen oct20
Beech 350C
403 (c/n FM-87, N87FM) seen oct20
404 (c/n FM-89, ex N889FM) seen oct20
Peculiar detail is that one of the new Super King Airs has registration 403, a serial already used by an Hellenic Army Aviation C-12R/AP.

Photos: via Aeroporilikia Facebook and Tiziano Capenti