The Duke of Cambridge has spent the last two year’s co-piloting the charity’s helicopter and flying missions in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. He has been based at Cambridge International Airport, where he was formally employed by Bond Air Services and drew a salary which he donated to charity.
Prince William started his training for his Air Transport Pilot's Licence (Helicopter) in September 2014, which culminated in 14 exams and a flight test. He took unpaid leave in April 2015 in the run-up to the birth of his daughter, Princess Charlotte, and returned to complete his training at the beginning of June. During his time with the charity he worked as part of a six-strong team on a roster of day and night shifts as he responded to emergencies ranging from road accidents to heart attacks.
In September 2015 Prince William flew on a mission to HMP Highpoint South in Suffolk, where Myra Hyndley served the last three years of her life sentence. A couple of months later, in November, he flew in to help at a real life drama in the village where ITV’s fictional crime series Grantchester is filmed. The Duke of Cambridge flew to assist a man found with serious injuries near a pub in the Cambridgeshire village.
In January 2016 he returned to work at the Air Ambulance’s new purpose-built operations base in Cambridge, which cost around a quarter of a million pounds. He was seen flying into Cambridge Airport mid-morning, following a mission, then he spent a while re-fuelling and chatting to his colleagues.
Last March he was spotted at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, reassuring and comforting patient Jim Schembri, who suffered a nasty accident in a garden whilst working as a tree surgeon. The 37-year-old, former soldier, joked that he didn't want William flying him to hospital in the air ambulance before realising he was already looking after him.
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