26 December: The tsunami in South-East Asia presents Rega with one of the greatest challenges in its history. Rega teams fly to Thailand and Sri Lanka in order to establish contact with the hospitals and to prepare patients to be transported back to Switzerland. All three Rega air-ambulances are in operation. Rega’s Operations Center also arranges for patients to be repatriated on board charter, military and scheduled aircraft. Within the space of a week, more than 60 patients are flown back to Switzerland, attended to by 16 medical teams.

The number of Rega patrons reaches a new record level: with two million patronages, Rega achieves yet another a milestone in its 55-year history.

Rega is held in high esteem by the Swiss population: a study carried out by the market research institute, IHA-GfK, in summer 2007 reveals that Rega is the most popular Swiss brand. Rega has the best corporate image from among 100 Swiss companies.

4 February: For the first time, Rega transports a seriously ill patient attached to a so-called «life box», a heart-lung machine, in a rescue helicopter.

11 June: After the new rescue helicopter, the AgustaWestland Da Vinci, is presented to the public at the manufacturing plant in Vergiate, Italy in March 2009, the first of a total of 11 new helicopters, the HB-ZRZ, is delivered to the Rega Center. The hand-over of the new helicopters to each of the helicopter bases takes place in a special ceremony, with Open Days organised for the general public.

27 October: For the first time, a «life box» is used on board an air-ambulance: during the night of 26 October, Rega, supported by a team of heart surgeons from the Heart and Neurological Center in Kreuzlingen on Lake Constance, transfers a seriously-ill patient from Croatia to Cologne (Germany).

29 October: The first patient flight and at the same time the first rescue hoist operation with the Da Vinci rescue helicopter: using the horizontal net, the crew from the St. Gallen helicopter base rescue an injured person from steep terrain between Schwägalp and the Säntis mountain.

6 November: After days spent renovating and moving premises, the day has finally arrived: the crew from the Lausanne helicopter base take off in the EC 145 HB-ZRB on their first mission from their new building. The «temporary» arrangement that had lasted for 30 years had at last come to an end.

6 December: Rega’s partner base in Zweisimmen is transformed into a fully-fledged Rega helicopter base. Already on the previous day, the Agusta A 109 K2, with the registration HB-XWB, had carried out a mission as «Rega 14».