Local actions to receive a permanent base started in 1990, and the heliport opened the following year.

The south coast filled with holiday-goers during the summer months, increasing the demand for medical treatment.

They found a suitable natural helipad at the former director mansion of Arendal Smelteverk, situated on the island of Buøya in the then municipality of Moland.

NLA lacked sufficient funding for the project, so they made an agreement where the employees could bring themselves and their families for a free vacation at the mansion in exchange for duty time.

[3] The government decision spurred local campaigning to establish a permanent base in Agder.

Vest-Agder County Municipality argued that the base should be situated at Vest-Agder Central Hospital in Kristiansand, while Aust-Agder County Municipality wanted it at Aust-Agder Central Hospital in Arendal.

The main argument was the Arendal was about of equal distance between Stavanger and Lørenskog and that a helicopter there could cover both Vest-Agder and Telemark, unlike one based in Kristiansand.

[5] Arendal was one of three heliports opened between 1991 and 1994, bringing the total number of ambulance helicopter bases to eleven.

[10] The facility is owned by Sørlandet Hospital Trust, part of Southern and Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority.