LifeFlight’s air ambulance jet crews made history in 2024, airlifting a record number of patients amid surging demand. Patient numbers for the Challenger 604 jets, which are located at LifeFlight’s Brisbane, Townsville and Singapore bases, soared to1,099 people helped. The figure is 73 percent higher than the previous year and equates to three people helped per day. The Townsville base recorded a 67 percent increase in people helped to 487 while total flight hours reached 2,227.
Statistics released this week show jet numbers contributed to an overall bumper year, with 8,477 people helped over the course of the 12 months. The figure was 13 percent higher than 2023 and more than any other year in the not-for-profit’s history.
In August last year, LifeFlight completed one of the longest jet flights in its history where it transported a patient with a head injury from Bern (Switzerland) to Perth. The mission lasted 52.8 hours with the patient on board 24.2 hours.
LifeFlight First Officer Amanda Deed, said it was a momentous flight that saw the jet pass over the Pyramids of Giza on their way to Switzerland. “To be part of this flight was incredible,” she said. “Not just from a flying perspective but from a coordination and medical perspective as well. What our whole team was able to achieve was amazing. From the moment LifeFlight received the job, the team in C3 (LifeFlight’s communication, coordination and control centre) worked tirelessly to ensure everything ran smoothly. Our doctors and nurses then ensured the comfort and care of the patient and as a team we delivered him safely to Perth.”
Other noteworthy missions in 2024 included airlifting a newborn and parents from Chiang Mai, Thailand to Brisbane. The successful mission required advanced neonatal equipment and specialised medical teams to be on board our aircraft.
In April and May a patient was repatriated from Hiroshima, Japan to the Gold Coast during Japan’s Golden Week where much of the country shuts down. The mission, launched from the Singapore base, required 48 hours of planning and preparation to be undertaken successfully.
Two flights were also completed with eight patients on board during a single mission, highlighting the capabilities of the Challenger 604 jets.
LifeFlight General Manager Commercial Partnerships Tyson Smith, said LifeFlight’s aeromedical capability was constantly expanding. Smith said that was because its jets were capable of handling both long-distance flights from the United States or Europe to Australia or domestic missions across Queensland. “The 2024 results, which came off the back of a strong 2023, demonstrate the increasing demand for our service whether it’s international repatriations or domestic jobs like transporting patients to and from regional centres to major hospitals in capital cities,” Smith said. “Our crews play a vital role airlifting patients from distant locations to major hospitals in Australia for life saving treatment and procedures.”
LifeFlight’s fleet of four Air Ambulance jets, including one based in Singapore, and eight rotary wing aircraft operates from eight Queensland bases and is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, directly servicing an area of 1.85 million square kilometres. LifeFlight has helped more than 90,000 people since it first took to the skies in 1979.
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