Used during crime prevention, traffic surveillance and search and rescue operations, the air wing has since gone from strength-to-strength.

In the mid-1980s, the air wing formed a partnership with the Metropolitan Ambulance Service to provide a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week air ambulance service for the state.

Each year the Victoria Police Air Wing flies about 2500 hours, and conducts 3500 police tasks and 800 ambulance missions.

Speaking at the $18 million hangar and maintenance facility at Essendon Fields, Inspector Bruce Thomas said the air wing had proven to be an invaluable tool.

"Criminals can now be caught on land and from the sky, and this has assisted us in providing a safer Victoria."