Two fully equipped Leonardo AW139 helicopters were handed over to the Hellenic Emergency Medical Service (EKAB) on Monday, July 6, at Pachi Civil Airport in Megara.
The helicopters are being provided to EKAB through a donation from the Hellenic Bank Association, with funding from Alpha Bank, Eurobank, National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank.
The helicopters will be used for emergency medical transfers and will operate under EKAB’s coordination. According to the deployment plan, one aircraft will be based in Rhodes to cover the Dodecanese, while the second will operate from Aktion, covering the Ionian Islands.
The deployment is intended to improve EKAB’s capacity to carry out medical evacuations from islands and other areas where access to hospitals may require air transport, particularly during the summer period when demand for emergency services increases.
The handover was attended by Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, Deputy Health Minister Marios Themistocleous, Secretary General of Health Services Lilian Venetia Vildiridi, EKAB President George K. Charalambous, representatives of the Hellenic Bank Association and the four participating banks, as well as EKAB officials.
The two helicopters are equipped for aeromedical missions and will be incorporated into EKAB’s operational planning. Their deployment in Rhodes and Aktion expands the service’s air-transport capacity in two island regions with significant seasonal demand.
The donation forms part of broader efforts to strengthen EKAB’s emergency response capabilities and improve access to pre-hospital and hospital care in remote and island areas of Greece.
