Premiere in Upper Austria

Emergency Medical Helicopter to Fly at Night Starting Friday

The night helicopter service will begin on Friday.(Bild: Pressefoto Scharinger/Daniel Scharinger)

In this case, it took a good year from concept to implementation: Starting Friday, Upper Austria will have its own emergency medical helicopter, which will also take off for missions at night. Until now, our state has been partially served by Lower Austria and Styria. The ÖAMTC expects 250 missions per year. 

The governor and his deputy made a special trip to Suben: On Monday, leaders from the ÖAMTC, ADAC, Red Cross, mountain rescue, and representatives of the police gathered there to launch this special project. Starting Friday, Upper Austria—in cooperation with Bavaria—will have its own 24/7 helicopter. This means the crew of the Christophorus Europa 3 rescue helicopter will be on call around the clock. 

Until now, rescue helicopters at the Upper Austrian bases have only taken off during the day: the Christophorus 10 from Hörsching (Linz-Land district) and the Christophorus Europa 3 from Suben (Schärding district). The Christophorus 10 will continue to operate only during the day, while the Christophorus Europa 3 will operate around the clock in the future. In 2025, the helicopter took off from Suben for 1,523 rescue flights during daytime operations. Night operations are expected to add nearly 250 additional missions per year.

Suben’s location on the border with Germany made it an ideal site for a cross-border project. The Christophorus Europa 3 will therefore also fly missions in Bavaria, making it one of only two rescue helicopters in Europe that operate across national borders. Preparations took time not only because of the different legal requirements and financing systems in Austria and Bavaria, but also because additional personnel trained for nighttime missions were needed, along with technical modifications such as special interior and instrument lighting.

A practical example: Regarding crew qualifications, emergency physicians and paramedics had to be trained by both the ADAC and the ÖAMTC on the German and Austrian aircraft, respectively. There are also specific requirements regarding the handling of radio communications with the respective control centers. 

An agreement between the state of Upper Austria, the Christophorus Air Rescue Association, and the Austrian Health Insurance Fund has governed the financing of air rescue services since 2012. The 24/7 operation costs the state an additional 2.25 million euros per year. Through cooperation with Bavaria, German health insurance companies also contribute to the operations in Suben.

“Medical emergencies don’t wait for a specific time,” said Governor Thomas Stelzer on Monday during a press conference in Suben, “which is why it’s crucial that people in Upper Austria can count on rapid and professional assistance around the clock.” His deputy in charge of health, Christine Haberlander (both ÖVP), emphasized that cutting-edge medical care is increasingly being provided in specialized centers and that the goal is to ensure the fastest possible transport to these centers from all regions. The flight time from Braunau to the Wels-Grieskirchen Clinics or the Kepler University Hospital in Linz is about 20 to 30 minutes, officials said.