Norsk Luftambulanse carried out a trial operation in Arendal during the summer of 1986. The south coast filled with holiday-goers during the summer months, increasing the demand for medical treatment. NLA was at the time funded through donations and needed to find new ways to promote itself. They found a suitable natural helipad at the former director mansion of
Arendal Smelteverk, situated on the island of
Buøya in the then municipality of Moland. NLA lacked sufficient funding for the project, so they made an agreement where the employees could bring themselves and their families for a free vacation at the mansion in exchange for duty time. NLA continued to operate a summer base in Arendal every summer. A government commission looked into the air ambulance organization in 1982. This resulted in the National Air Ambulance Service being established in 1988, under the auspice of the
National Insurance Service. Through this arrangement,
Agder and
Telemark were covered by helicopter ambulances based at
Lørenskog Heliport, Central Hospital and
Stavanger Heliport, Central Hospital. The government decision spurred local campaigning to establish a permanent base in Agder. They argued that
Stavanger and
Oslo were too far away to give an adequate coverage of Agder and Telemark. The activism increased rapidly in 1990. Two petitions were established, the one gathering 33,000 signatures. A common petition was written and signed by both county councils, 34 mayors and various organizations. There was also some opposition, based on that the ambulance service would in total be better off if the extra funding was used on strengthening the conventional ambulance service. Although there was agreement that a base should be established, there was far from local consensus regarding its location.
Vest-Agder County Municipality argued that the base should be situated at
Vest-Agder Central Hospital in
Kristiansand, while
Aust-Agder County Municipality wanted it at
Aust-Agder Central Hospital in
Arendal. The issue was decided by the
Ministry of Social Affairs. The main argument was the Arendal was about of equal distance between Stavanger and
Lørenskog and that a helicopter there could cover both Vest-Agder and Telemark, unlike one based in Kristiansand. This was met by protests from neighbors of the hospital, who complained about the
noise pollution. They demanded the relocation of the heliport. This was the most extensive conflict of any regarding the location of an ambulance heliport in the country. After several years of measuring and other considerations, about fifty home-owners received compensation. The original tender to operate the helicopter was awarded to NLA. The contract was from 2001 won by
Airlift. NLA reclaimed the operating rights in the 2006 tender. ==Facilities==