Building for 2015
Bristow SAR contract began. SAR service which was initially contracted from
Manston (but abandoned after that base closed in May 2014), commenced officially from 1 Aug 2015 with leased AW139, following closure of the service by the RAF
22 Squadron B Flt from
AAC Wattisham. The service was due to be provided by AW189, which is currently experiencing certification issues due to de-icing performance. The AW139 has a slightly reduced capacity but a longer range than the contracted AW189.
As of 2020, the Lydd based AW189 helicopters responds to around 16 incidents per month
