A new Bermudian air ambulance service is to take to the skies next week, it was revealed tonight.

Gilbert “Artie” Darrell said that five years’ research had led to Bermuda Air Ambulance Ltd securing an island-based Learjet 55 with a pilot and paramedic team that would operate around the clock from next Monday.

He added BAAL had been established with “a core group of local experts in business, logistics, aviation and emergency medicine” to offer urgent medical evacuation to visitors and residents.

The service will also be available for “non urgent medical transports”.

Mr Darrell, a former paramedic and firefighter, said the company was set up with the backing of Jet Logistics and Air EMS operations, both based in the US.

Jet Logistics is a consortium specialising in medical aircraft based in North Carolina.

Mr Darrell told The Royal Gazette last year that he was on the hunt for investors to bring back an air ambulance for patients who needed urgent care overseas.

He said the pandemic had underlined the need for the service.

The island lost its domestic air ambulance, Bermuda Air Medivac, in 2013 after the company closed for financial reasons.