The new Starship National Air Ambulance plane may look fun on the outside – but there's serious stuff going on in the inside.

The new Starship Air Ambulance. Photo: Tim Whittaker.

Revealed yesterday, the new version is a King Air 350 turbo prop that is faster and quieter than the previous plane. The exterior of the plane has been decked out with childlike pictures of doctors, nurses, patients, rockets, planets and stars.

'Starship has the national paediatric intensive care unit and a dedicated team that can fly anywhere in the country at any time of the day or night to treat a seriously ill or injured child,” says Starship's Paediatric Intensive Care Unit clinical director John Beca.

'The high-tech equipment on-board is a mobile intensive care unit with full life-support capabilities. However, we shouldn't under-estimate the value of having a more child-friendly plane on the outside either, as this can help reduce anxiety for the patient and their family at a very stressful time.”

The King Air turbo prop is the world's most popular and safest current production turbo-prop aircraft. The plane's long range capability enables non-stop flights to nearly all New Zealand destinations, and its speed (of up to 300 knots) means it has faster response and retrieval times than the previous service.

It also has the latest avionics technology, including ‘synthetic vision' giving pilots the safest and most reliable means of navigation day and night.

Year-round, day and night, the Starship National Air Ambulance brings children from all over New Zealand to Starship.

It flies a dedicated retrieval team who are specialised in the care of children from around the country. These specialists help stabilise the children where necessary and then bring them back to Starship's Paediatric Intensive Care Unit where they can receive the life-saving care they need.

Starship Foundation raises $1.5 million annually for the Starship National Air Ambulance Service.

Other major contributors to the Starship National Air Ambulance include Starship Foundation Sponsor SKY and Starship Foundation's regular givers as well as proceeds from the Starship Mobile Phone Appeal and from the sale of Starship Christmas albums.

'We are so grateful to the generous organisations and people from all around the country who help us raise the funds to keep this lifeline for New Zealand families in the air,” says Starship Foundation chief executive Brad Clark.

'Without their support, we could not provide such a vital service to every child in urgent need of lifesaving care.”

The plane is operated by Skyline Aviation - a privately owned, New Zealand family business led by directors Mike and Annabel Toogood, and with more than 23 years' experience in rescuing and transporting critically injured or ill patients.

The exterior of the plane was designed by award-winning ad agency Republik and painted by Elliott Aviation

Starship is New Zealand's national children's hospital. There are nearly 120,000 patient visits to Starship Children's Health every year by children from all over New Zealand.

The Starship Foundation is a charity that raises funds so Starship Children's Health can better care for its young patients.

Its vision is to create meaningful and magical opportunities that enrich the health of every young New Zealander. The Starship Foundation raises up to $10 million a year.

Donations are extra to Government funding and provide for initiatives such as Starship's National Air Ambulance Service which brings children from all over New Zealand to Starship for life-saving care, as well as refurbishing older wards, new technology and medical equipment, vital research, boosted family support, staff training and community outreach projects to keep children out of hospital.

Anyone can support the air ambulance at www.starship.org.nz/airambulance.