00:00The soaring fuel prices have all of us doing a double take at the petrol pump, whether
00:05your vehicle travels on land or in the skies.
00:08This is the helipad at KSS Rochester Airfield and at the moment it's empty, because the
00:13aircraft is responding to a critical incident. But it's becoming harder and harder for these
00:18flights to leave the ground with the increasing fuel costs.
00:22Since the start of the current crisis in the Middle East, the costs for our fuel have risen
00:27by 63%. That equates to about £25,000 a month and it could put a pressure on our long term
00:35financial viability, particularly in the context of a cost of living crisis, which is making
00:41everybody feel the pinch, making fundraising more difficult than it's ever really been
00:44before.
00:45The charity is now calling for the support of the public to help flights leave the ground.
00:5191% of our funds comes from members of the public and they're generous, generous support.
00:55support. We are working through Air Ambulance Charity to work with the government to ensure
01:01that they view Air Ambulance Charities as a whole as the life saving service that they
01:07are and to ensure that we benefit from any protections or provisions around fuel costs in the future.
01:13We have long term plans and we plan for changes like this. This is a sort of incident that you
01:21can't plan for, but we are confident that with the support of the members of the public and
01:26the work that we're doing with Air Ambulances UK that we will be able to continue to apply this wave.
01:31Government says they're continuing to plan for a workable solution around increasing aviation
01:36fuel costs which have come as a result of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping
01:41route near Iran. But when fuel prices take off, it's not just helicopters feeling the turbulence.
01:47The INLI told us the increasing costs are having a financial impact on them too and that they
01:53continue to monitor the situation but say it isn't currently impacting their service.
01:58So while we wait for a solution to rising fuel costs, charities like Kent's Air Ambulance
02:03are hoping public support will help keep their life saving missions from being grounded.
02:07Chloe Brewster for KMTV in Gillingham.
02:10.
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