Air Ambulance Services

Medical evacuation by air is a life-critical service that demands the highest levels of coordination, speed, and professionalism. Whether a patient needs to be moved from a remote location to a trauma centre, transferred between hospitals for specialist treatment, or repatriated to their home country after an illness or injury abroad, the complexity of organising such flights is immense.

Plane Selection works with dedicated air ambulance operators across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia — operators who maintain purpose-built medical aircraft with ICU-equivalent equipment, staffed by qualified flight physicians, nurses, and paramedics. Our role is to serve as your single point of contact: we assess the medical transport requirement, identify the most suitable aircraft and medical crew, coordinate with hospitals at both ends, manage flight permits and documentation, and monitor the mission from wheels-up to patient handover.

Our operations centre in Nice, France is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. When you call with a medical evacuation request, we begin working immediately — there are no office hours in emergency medicine.

Types of Medical Flights

Emergency Medevac

The most time-critical scenario. A patient requires immediate transport to a hospital capable of providing definitive care — often following an accident, stroke, cardiac event, or other acute medical emergency. We prioritise speed above all else, sourcing the nearest suitable air ambulance and coordinating directly with emergency services at both ends.

Hospital-to-Hospital Transfer

When a patient is stable but requires transfer to a facility with specialist capabilities — a burns unit, a neurosurgery centre, a paediatric ICU — we arrange inter-hospital transport with appropriate medical escorts. These transfers are planned in coordination with the medical teams at both the sending and receiving hospitals.

International Repatriation

Falling seriously ill or sustaining an injury while travelling abroad is every family's nightmare. International medical repatriation brings the patient home to continue treatment near family and in familiar healthcare surroundings. We handle the entire process: medical assessment, flight planning, hospital coordination, customs and immigration formalities, and ground ambulance transfers at both ends.

Organ Transport

Organ transplantation depends on speed. Donor organs have strict viability windows — sometimes just hours. We arrange dedicated organ transport flights with appropriate preservation equipment and medical escorts, coordinating directly with transplant teams to ensure seamless handover within the critical time frame.

Neonatal and Paediatric Transport

Transporting critically ill newborns and children requires specialised incubators, paediatric ventilators, and medical teams with specific neonatal/paediatric expertise. We source aircraft equipped for these delicate missions and ensure the medical crew has the right qualifications.

Medical Team on Board

Every air ambulance flight we arrange includes a qualified medical team appropriate to the patient's condition. The team composition is determined by the patient's acuity level and the medical requirements of the transport:

• Flight Physician: A board-certified emergency medicine or intensive care physician experienced in aeromedical transport. The physician manages all clinical aspects of the flight, including medication administration, ventilator management, and in-flight decision-making.
• Flight Nurse/Paramedic: A critical care nurse or advanced paramedic who assists the physician, monitors patient vitals continuously, and manages equipment. On less acute transports, a nurse alone may provide adequate medical cover.
• Specialist Escorts: For specific conditions — neonatal, cardiac, neurological, burns — we can arrange specialist medical escorts with the relevant subspecialty training.

All medical crew members hold current aeromedical training certifications and are experienced in the unique challenges of providing care at altitude, including managing cabin pressure effects, vibration, and limited space.

Insurance Coordination

Medical evacuation costs can be substantial — ranging from €15,000 for a short European transfer to €250,000 or more for an intercontinental repatriation with full ICU escort. Plane Selection works directly with travel insurance companies, corporate assistance programmes, and embassy medical offices to coordinate coverage and pre-authorisation.

If you have travel insurance or corporate coverage, we will liaise with your insurer to verify coverage, obtain pre-authorisation, and handle the billing directly wherever possible. For uninsured patients or cases where coverage is unclear, we provide transparent pricing upfront so families can make informed decisions without delay.

The Medevac Process

1. Initial contact: Call our 24/7 line. Provide the patient's location, medical condition, and the desired destination hospital.
2. Medical assessment: Our medical coordination team reviews the patient's condition (we may contact the treating physician directly) to determine the required level of care, equipment, and crew.
3. Aircraft sourcing: We identify the nearest suitable air ambulance with the right equipment and medical team availability. Response times depend on location but are typically 2–6 hours for European missions.
4. Coordination: We coordinate with the sending hospital (discharge timing, medical records handover), the receiving hospital (bed availability, specialist team readiness), and ground ambulance services at both airports.
5. Flight: The medical team collects the patient, stabilises for transport, and maintains continuous care throughout the flight. Our operations desk monitors the flight and stands by for any en-route changes.
6. Handover: On arrival, the patient is transferred by ground ambulance to the receiving hospital with a full medical handover to the accepting team.

Contact Us — Every Minute Counts

If you need a medical evacuation or air ambulance, do not wait. Contact our 24/7 operations centre immediately. We will begin working on your case the moment we receive your call. Have the following information ready if possible:

• Patient's current location (hospital name, city, country)
• Medical condition and current treatment
• Desired destination (hospital or city)
• Insurance details (if available)
• Contact details for the treating physician

Even if you do not have all the details, call us — we can work with partial information and fill in the gaps as the case develops.