Hyderabad: If you think that business jets are only for luxurious travel, you may be mistaken. These jets, which are equipped with medical modules, are being used for medical evacuation. Some charter airlines are ferrying patients from Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa to Indian hospitals.
“Medical evacuation is slowly picking up in India. We use our charter flights to ferry patients in India and also from places like Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa, where medical facilities are not great,” said Bhupesh Joshi, director and CEO of Club One Air. Fixed wing aircraft and helicopters are used as air ambulances for primary medical evacuation or during Golden Hour (where time is crucial), while private jets are used for medium haul flights to other countries for secondary medical evacuation — a situation where a patient is critical but it is not life threatening.
Foreign patients are mostly brought in for secondary medical evacuation. According to Vadim Feldzer of Dassault Aviation, his company has a special medical module for Falcon, which can be converted into an air ambulance. “Our Falcon 2000 has an advanced medical evacuation module. We are seeing some interest in the market. Currently, we are in discussion with our prospective customers in Southeast Asia.”
So how does this work? Patients, who are either super-rich or have an insurance cover, get in touch with big Indian corporate hospitals like Apollo and Max. Then they draft in charter flight operators for medical evacuation. The charges for this service in India are in the range of Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 lakh.
However, Bengaluru-based Aviators Air Rescue, which has tied up with the world’s largest air ambulance firm Air Medical Group Holdings (AMGH), follows health insurance model to make it affordable to more people. Under this model, a prospective user needs to pay a subscription fee of Rs 18,000 a year for using air ambulance in case of the need.
According to Captain Madhu K. Valsaraj, president of Deccan, increased incidence of organ donation has increased the use of charter aircraft. “As an organ has to reach the recipient within a short time, many people are opting for air ambulances.”
