Transferring Christchurch's air rescue services patients to hospital is set to get much easier with a new aviation facility opening at the airport today.

The $23 million project, which has taken two years to build, will be home of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and New Zealand Flying Doctors.

The new facility, which has direct runway access, will speed up the process of a patient getting off the plane and en route to the hospital.

Chief Executive Andrew Currie says it will be a game-changer.

"The NZ Flying Doctors which is another part of our operation does all its transfers from aircraft, so the plane part is now able to be done safely and securely into a controlled environment."

Currie says it will make the process around patients needing urgent care much smoother.

"It's nice for our patient transfer from the planes to the ambulance to the hospital, it makes it a lot more private and a far nicer transfer for those people."

The facility is owned and operated by Garden City Helicopters.