Following initial discussions in 1986, on 1 Apr 1987 Cornwalls Air Ambulance took to the skies, as the first Air Ambulance in the UK. It works closely with the South Western Ambulance Service and Bond Air Services. Funding for the service was initially by the Health Authority but it proved unsustainable and by November 1987, the First Air Ambulance Service Trust was formed. Although shown under Government Organisations, Cornwall Air Ambulance is a Charitable Trust, relying on voluntary fund raising, public donations, lotteries, local business support and legacies to maintain and improve its operations. In 1989 the Air Ambulance took up its new and present base at
Newquay. From here, it could reach any part of the Duchy in twenty minutes, and the Isles of Scilly in twenty-eight minutes.
The 15th birthday party took place in 2002 at the Royal Cornwall showground near Wadebridge. In November 2007, it also opened a shop in Saltash, near Cornwalls border with England.
