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With its fleet of ruby red helicopters beginning to show their age, STARS Air Ambulance is embarking on an ambitious fundraising campaign to upgrade the non-profit’s life-saving aircraft.

A recent review of STARS’ current roster of choppers — the legacy Airbus BK 117 (which are now 34 years old) and the AgustaWestland AW139 (commissioned in 2012) — determined the service would need to update its fleet to ensure it remains at the top of its game when responding to medical emergencies.

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Andrea Robertson, STARS president and CEO, said the existing fleet, particularly its original aircraft, is becoming costly to maintain and creating a unified fleet will ensure the critical service remains airborne for at least another 30-plus years.

“They’ve served us beautifully, but the whole issue is once they’re deemed a legacy aircraft it becomes much harder to get parts,” she said.

“We’re trying to get ahead of the bar when it’s becoming harder and harder and harder to get parts.”