Official Opening of the new Luxembourg Air Rescue facilities

Luxembourg, April 20^th 2016 Another milestone in the history of air rescue services in Luxembourg At last the time has come: after a construction phase of over a year ? and thus staying within the original time schedule ? Luxembourg Air Rescue has moved into its new premises at Findel Airport. On April 20^th 2016, LAR staff, together with guests, celebrated the official opening in the presence of His Royal Highness, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg. The newly constructed premises comprise three hangars with a combined size of 3.600 sqm for the LAR aircraft fleet, as well as 3.500 sqm office space, including a state-of-the-art Control Centre and innovative medical training facilities. For René Closter, President and CEO of Luxembourg Air Rescue, the new building establishes the ideal basis for air rescue services in Luxembourg: ?The new building has been planned by our staff for our staff. It constitutes in many ways a significant progress for our live saving mission. The infrastructure, and thereby working conditions, have been optimised for our staff in such decisive ways that they are now even better able to fulfil their mission of saving people in emergency situations.? One improvement, for example, is that as a certified MDI Helicopters Service Centre, LAR can now carry out all helicopter repair and maintenance services by itself. This allows for a reduction in costs, especially in regards to larger maintenance tasks for which the helicopters previously had to be flown to maintenance companies located abroad, and which now can be performed in-house. Furthermore, maintenance works on the LAR ambulance aircraft fleet can also be carried out by LAR?s own technicians in the new hangars. An additional advantage is the fact that all LAR staff are now located under one roof, compared to two separate sites in the past. This will not only help to reduce costs and make a better utilisation of resources, it will help improve teamwork across all departments of the LAR Group. Thanks to shorter communication lines between different departments, working conditions and processes can further be improved, which reflects the high quality standards of LAR and contributes to the well-being of patients and members. The costs for the new central headquarter amounts to 12 million Euro (including VAT) and represents the biggest single investment in the history of LAR. Except for a financial support amounting to 680.000 Euro granted by the Ministry of Economy, the costs of the building were entirely financed by LAR via a loan from Luxemburgish banks running over a period of 20 years. In order to be able to construct this building, LAR negotiated a 30 year rental agreement for the ground with airport operator Lux-Airport. It constitutes important added value to the airport, as the new LAR building also functions as the ?advanced medical post?. Such a facility is mandatory for international airports in order to guarantee the treatment of mass-casualties in the event of a disaster. To this effect, around one hundred emergency medical beds, including the necessary medical equipment, are stored in the LAR facilities. These can be deployed within 20 minutes in case of an emergency. ?We are very pleased that with our new building we will also be able to contribute to the security at Findel Airport. Considering the present worldwide geopolitical situation, these measures are more important than ever,? says LAR President René Closter. Apart from Lux-Airport, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Economy, the construction company Kuhn, the Air Navigation Administration, the Civil Aviation Authorities, the Highway Agency as well as all other involved partners, it was the loyal LAR members who made the realisation of such a project possible. A special thank you goes to the members of the board of LAR, LAA and Fondation LAR as well as all LAR employees.   Background Information Luxembourg Air Rescue started 28 years ago in a caravan and a tent on the premises of Luxembourg Airport. Since then the office space hardly changed: LAR employees were working in containers and the modern aircraft fleet was parked in tents and unheated hangars. The expensive and highly specialised medical equipment had to be unloaded from the aircraft every evening to protect it from changing weather conditions. With this new building the working conditions for Luxembourg Air Rescue have improved significantly. The new premises will facilitate the work done by LAR to further develop the capabilities to transport patients with highly infectious diseases. The fast and safe procedures necessary for this kind of transportation will be significantly improved in the new building. Furthermore, this new building will give a better insight of the company to LAR members. There is now the possibility to have a direct look at the maintenance of the helicopters and planes from a viewing gallery situated above the hangar floor. Members will also be able to have close contact with the LAR Control Centre to get a better understanding of how it coordinates the whole LAR fleet worldwide and why it is so fundamental to its smooth operations.