Construction of the new helicopter base will take place in several stages. In an initial phase, preliminary works will be carried out, depending on the weather conditions. In the next few weeks, the uppermost layer of soil will be removed, and the first civil engineering works will take place. In a second phase next year, the time-consuming civil engineering works will be carried out, and in a third phase, the modular construction of the hangar will follow.
Joint base for three helicopter companies
The new helicopter base will be built at the north side of the airport, as a modern, completely wooden construction by “Salzgeber Holzbau”, based in S-chanf, using regional wood. It will not be only Rega that moves in: the two other helicopter companies operating in Samedan – HeliBernina and Swiss Helicopters – will use the modern infrastructure as tenants. Rega can thus finance and build a joint, functional solution for all helicopter companies in the region.
Rega can wait no longer
The pending voting rights appeal relating to the vote on 17 August 2025 to discontinue the 2017 airport project is not an obstacle for construction work commencing on the new heli-copter base, especially as the vote was not necessary in order to build it, according to sever-al legal opinions. Although Rega does not yet have a signed subsurface development rights contract, it has decided to proceed with construction. The federal government also recog-nises the urgency of the construction project: on 9 October 2025, the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) approved a request from Rega to start construction ahead of schedule, be-fore winter sets in. Five days later, the ground-breaking ceremony has already taken place. Rega CEO Ernst Kohler says: “We cannot and do not want to wait any longer. What's at stake is providing airborne medical assistance for the people of Engadine and guests from Same-dan beyond 2026. This is the top priority for Rega.”
The completion date depends on the weather too
According to the phases of the airport project decided at the end of 2023, the companies were scheduled to move into the new base in December 2026. It is currently unclear as to whether the new helicopter base can be completed by then. In view of the shorter construc-tion season in Engadine, owing to its high altitude, it must be assumed that a temporary so-lution will be needed at the airport in order to accommodate the new, larger Rega helicopter from January 2027 until the base is completed.
Rega base in SamedanThe Rega base in Samedan is the highest-altitude mission base in Switzerland – at around 1,700 m above sea level. Missions at altitudes of 3,000 to 4,000 metres and sudden chang-es in weather conditions are part of the crews’ daily routine. The range of missions at the En-gadine base includes winter sports and mountain accidents through road and work-related accidents to acute illnesses. Each year, the crews in Samedan embark on around 700 mis-sions, approximately 90 percent of which are “primary missions” directly at the accident site. The remaining missions involve transporting patients from regional to central hospitals. Because of the Alpine terrain, the crew is regularly assisted by rescue specialists from Swiss Alpine Rescue. Back in 1957, just a few years after the air rescue service was established, Rega flew sporadic rescue missions with a Heliswiss helicopter in Engadine. In the late 1960s, Rega purchased its own helicopter, an Alouette III, for Engadine. From 1982, Rega installed its own crew at the airport in Samedan, where it had built its own hangar in 1977. Rega has been trying to update its oldest base in Switzerland for over a decade. |