AirMed and their clients have already been reaping the benefits of the new navigation and communications upgrade in Learjet 35A G-JMED. Rupert Dent, MD states “the cost and time savings that we have been able to gain from this upgrade have proved themselves extremely worthwhile. Not only are the clients benefiting directly, but the patient care can also be seen to be improved as the time spent in the aircraft has decreased. When you are primarily transferring critical care patients and neonates, this is deemed to be extremely beneficial.”

The example above shows how utilising the NAT (North Atlantic Tracks), the route from Gander to the UK can be shortened by well over 300nm and subject to weather, takes out the need for a tech stop in Iceland. This can potentially reduce the time the patient has to remain on board the aircraft by over 1.5 hours.

Whilst it is hard to find hard scientific data to support the fact that the reduced number of sectors has a positive impact on the patient (because the AA industry has a poor history of clinical research), it is our clinical impression after many hundreds of intensive care transfers that patients have less tolerance of multiple sectors.  It is our belief that patients with high dependancy should be submitted to the most efficient transfer available, and this includes the use of appropriate aircraft and routing to avoid multiple sectors where possible.  Our focus is to place patient care at the centre of our operation, and the navigational upgrade is at the forefront of this philosophy

One of the issues that all European operators have to deal with is the entry requirements for the United States. Delays are often encountered during visa and TSA applications and this can be a real problem when you have a critically ill patient who needs immediate repatriation. Now that AirMed has full EASA worldwide approval for dual long range navigation and communications as well as RNP5 and 10 (Required Navigation Performance), trips to the Caribbean no longer have to be delayed due to US customs and immigration requirements. Flights can be made direct from Canada to the Caribbean Islands without the need to enter US airspace. All of these routes are also fully compliant with the UK CAA’s non-ETOPs requirement of being no more than 120 minutes flight time, single engine, from a suitable airfield.

By being able to fully utilise the middle Atlantic via the Azores, AirMed are very competitive on routes previously unavailable to them. Transfers from Southern Europe into Canada are easily achievable using the Azores as a stop point en-route to the East coast of Canada, previously it would have been necessary to travel North to Iceland then across to Canada. For example from Jerez in Southern Spain to St. John’s in Canada, the new route is nearly 1000nm and 2 hours shorter!

The Required Navigation Performance (RNP) 10 approval also provides greater flexibility during operations to South America. Flights between Europe or Africa and South America can be completed in a much more direct fashion opening up a whole new viable market to AirMed.  Due to the cultures and languages spoken, South America is a very popular holiday destination for the Spanish and Portuguese and having the ability to fly directly from Brazil to Cape Verde and up into Southern Europe has allowed AirMed to provide a competitive service to this market for the first time.

If this greater flexibility and capability continues to grow the business in the way the initial indications show, the second Learjet 35A on the fleet, G-ZMED, will have the same upgrade installed. This will not only increase the overall capacity but will ensure a seamless service to clients throughout the year.

Mr Dent finishes by saying; “AirMed is continually moving forward and we strive to provide the best possible service. We have invested millions of dollars in all of our departments over the past few years and this has allowed us to grow into the well respected air ambulance operator we are today. Our EURAMI Special Care Accreditation and Care Quality Commission registration and compliance just adds credence to the high levels of patient care which lead our operations”.