Fuel costs surge by nearly a quarter for East Anglian Air Ambulance
It could put extra pressure on life-saving operations across the region
Last updated 3rd Jul 2022
The East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) has seen a 24 per cent increase in fuel cost as prices continue to soar across the country.
Relying almost completely on donations, EAAA operates all year round.
They host two H145 aircrafts and four rapid response vehicles - the upkeep of which cost approximately 50 million pounds a year.
With around 3000 missions every year, the charity expect the numbers to only increase as people spend more time outdoors, thanks to the easing of COVID measures.
Richard Hindson, Director of Operations and Infrastructure at East Anglian Air Ambulance, says: “The rising fuel prices clearly has a significant impact on the cost for our aircraft operation.
"Back in February, we were paying about 75p for per litre of jet A-1 aviation fuel for our aircraft... that is now 93p per litre. That gives total bill expected to be around about ÂŁ300,000 for a year's fuel."
Increased prices on fuel also affect donations, and with a fundraising target of £15 million per year, this challenge is only set to intensify. Hindson mentioned that the EAAA are hoping to upgrade two of their rapid response vehicles that are “coming to the end of their lives”, and running campaigns to raise funds.
However he stressed that people in the area should not worry as they have no plans reduce operations.
“We are anticipating that fundraising is going to be a struggle as the cost of living squeezes on individuals and their ability to donate becomes more challenging. So we do know it's going to be a really hard year.
"I'm optimistic in the case of for the last two years with the COVID crisis, all our support stood by us, and we managed to meet our income targets in order to keep not just our service going, but to continue to develop and grow it which is ultimately what we want to do.
“It will take a significant increase in fuel costs and other costs for us to be in a position where we would have to cut back on service. We don't see any reason to reduce the level of service that we provide.”