Lahr's air rescue location has been assigned to DRF Air Rescue.

New Air Rescue Site to Launch at Lahr Airport in 2026

The Ministry of the Interior, for Digitalization and Municipalities has awarded the contract for a new air rescue site at Lahr Airport (Ortenaukreis) to DRF Luftrettung gemeinnützige GmbH (DRF), effective July 1, 2026. The concession for this new site has a duration of 15 years.

The announcement was made in a press release on November 17, 2022, which can be found on the Ministry's website. The DRF will be using an Airbus H145 D3 helicopter with a five-blade rotor at the Lahr site, and the rescue helicopter will be deployed from sunrise to sunset. The helicopter will bear the call sign "Christoph Ortenau".

The DRF's offer was successful in the tendering procedure, as it achieved the best overall result in terms of quality and price. The Ministry is involved in the discussion regarding more sites for rescue helicopters, and further air rescue sites in Baden-Württemberg will be tendered in the future.

The remaining air rescue sites in Baden-Württemberg will be tendered sequentially through subsequent tendering procedures. Once all the recommendations from the Air Rescue Report (May 2020) have been implemented, the existing ten air rescue sites will be able to reach every location in Baden-Württemberg within 20 minutes during the day.

The new air rescue site in Lahr implements the professional recommendations from the Structure and Demand Analysis of Air Rescue in Baden-Württemberg from 2020. A new additional site on the Lahr-Freudenstadt axis will significantly improve the supply structure for the population in the Ortenaukreis and northern Black Forest.

The DRF already operates seven air rescue sites in Baden-Württemberg and will operate a total of eight stations from 2026 onwards. The DRF will provide the pilots and medical-technical crew members of the rescue helicopter, while the Ortenau Klinikum will ensure the medical staffing.

For more information about the new air rescue site at Lahr Airport, please contact the Press Office of the Ministry of the Interior, for Digitalization and Municipalities. A contact form is available on the Ministry's website for citizens' inquiries. The Citizen's Representative of the Ministry can also be contacted for information.

The Air Rescue Report (May 2020) is available for download on the Ministry's website. The contract for the further rescue helicopter locations in Baden-Württemberg in 2022 was awarded to the DRF Luftrettung, which successfully secured the license after a Europe-wide tender process based on criteria of quality (60%) and price (40%).