The new site became fully operational in June 2018,[4] and was formally opened by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall in December of that year.

[5] In 2019, the charity – whose fundraising target had now increased to £3.75million – received their own Air Operator Certificate (AOC), which had previously been managed by the now defunct Heli Charter.

[11] It has a range of 400 miles (640 km) and a top speed of 150 knots (170 mph; 280 km/h), enabling it to reach anywhere in the county within a short time.

On board is all the kit found on a land ambulance, with extra specialist equipment, all paid for by donations.

[15] Flight operations were also suspended for two weeks in August 2018 as the aircraft, vehicles and airbase buildings were examined to ensure no contamination resulting from the 2018 Amesbury poisonings was present.

The situation was complicated by the entry into voluntary liquidation of Heli Charter, who supplied the aircraft and were the holder of the air operator certificate (AOC).

[20][21] The charity declared its intention to apply for its own AOC to allow it to operate the Bell 429 directly, but cautioned that this could not occur until the cause of the January incident had been established.

[23] The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) completed inspections in August and issued the AOC in November, enabling the Bell 429 to re-enter service.

The AAIB also found that the cockpit voice recorder had been affected by the fitting of TETRA communications equipment in 2015, and the defect had not been found during annual checks by the recorder's manufacturer, leading to a recommendation to the European Aviation Safety Agency regarding checks to be made after adding equipment.