It’s faster, can fly higher and could have launched from Jandakot Airport when the runways went black after a lightning strike on Monday.

WA Police’s flash new $23 million leased luxurious light business jet, the Pilatus PC-24, is fresh off the production line and set to revolutionise the way officers respond to emergencies.

The Switzerland-made aircraft, which has two engines instead of one and carries eight people instead of six, is the latest swish addition to the police force’s fleet of five aircraft.

When unveiling the jet on Tuesday, Police Minister Reece Whitby stood firm on the Government’s choice to lease the pricey plane instead of buying one for a cheaper price.

“When you’re policing, when you’re keeping the community safe, you don’t scrimp on cost,” he said.

“You make the right investment that’s fit for purpose. So I’m absolutely right behind the decision.”

The jet will cost $23.2 million over its five-year lease, which includes all expenses and maintenance services, a major reason leasing was considered the most “effective option”.

Mr Whitby said that the fact the aircraft could have taken off from an otherwise blacked out Jandakot Airport was early proof of its value.

“The incident was a rare and random event,” he said. “It could have happened at any airstrip in the country ... I’m not a pilot but they could have taken off. If there’s an emergency response required, they can still go ahead.”

The airport was back in action Tuesday morning after a lightning strike on Monday damaged “almost all” of the taxi and runway lights required to guide planes during take-off and landing.

The jet can travel up to 815km/h, fly at up to 45,000 feet, and access short and narrow airstrips with gravel or dirt surfaces.

Police Commissioner Col Blanch said getting to disaster zones, like flooding that decimated Fitzroy in early 2023, would take half the time in the Pilatus PC-24.

“With this one, we can get there twice in one day, so we can really move a lot of people and move it fast,” he said.

WA Police chief pilot James Howard said remote areas like Kununurra could now be reached in a matter of a few hours.

“Having two engines means we’re much more capable,” he said.

“We can now fly at night a lot more than we could with the restrictions of a single engine.

“It goes much higher, so we can get above a lot of the weather and it travels about 800km/h, so we can get to Kununurra in under four hours, almost half the travel time.”

The Royal Flying Doctor Service has five Pilatus PC-24 across its Jandakot, Broome and Adelaide bases, which have been aptly coined “emergency wards in the sky”.