AHMEDABAD: Gujarat’s government-operated, round-the-clock air ambulance service is closing in on 100 missions since its launch in 2022, completing 48 patient transfers and 50 vital organ transportation missions.
Available to citizens across India at subsidised rates, the service aims to cut medical travel time and connect critically ill patients with specialised healthcare facilities.
Gujarat is taking emergency healthcare to the skies, with its dedicated air ambulance service completing 98 missions since 2022 and approaching the landmark 100-flight milestone.
The service, designed to accelerate critical patient transfers and facilitate time-sensitive organ transportation, is emerging as an additional lifeline for patients who cannot afford delays in reaching specialised medical facilities.
Of the 98 missions completed so far, 48 involved transporting patients requiring urgent or advanced medical care, while 50 were dedicated to moving vital human organs for transplantation. The figures underline the service’s dual role in emergency healthcare and transplant logistics, where every minute can influence medical outcomes.
Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi, who also holds the Civil Aviation portfolio, said the government-operated service provides air medical transportation at subsidised rates and remains accessible to citizens across India.
Operated through the Civil Aviation Department and Gujarat State Aviation Infrastructure Company Limited (GUJSAIL), the initiative seeks to bridge geographical barriers between patients and specialised treatment centres. Its reach beyond Gujarat also positions the service as a public healthcare facility with a wider national footprint.
The service operates a dedicated Beechcraft King Air B200 aircraft, registered as VT-GUJ, which remains available round the clock for emergency missions. Depending on the patient’s condition, destination and urgency, the aircraft can be equipped with doctors, medical personnel and essential equipment.
The response begins when 108 Emergency Services identifies a case requiring air transportation and refers it to GUJSAIL’s Flight Operations Department. The department coordinates the aviation arrangements, while medical teams, pilots, airport authorities, ground transport providers and receiving hospitals work together to complete the transfer.
Hospitals can also directly request the service when patients need urgent relocation to another medical facility. The objective is to minimise delays across the entire journey, from the originating hospital to the airport, through the flight and onward to the destination hospital.
The aircraft can operate from various airports and suitable airstrips, including uncontrolled airstrips, subject to weather, safety and operational requirements. This flexibility can prove valuable when patients are located far from major airports, although road ambulances remain essential for local transfers and cases where flying offers no clear advantage.
The 50 organ transportation missions highlight another critical function. Since transplant organs must be transported within medically determined time limits, dedicated aviation support can help transplant teams move organs rapidly between cities and hospitals.
The government has set subsidised charges at ₹50,000 for Gujarati patients, ₹65,000 for non-Gujarati patients and ₹55,000 when hospitals book the service.
As Gujarat approaches 100 missions, the focus remains on combining aviation infrastructure with medical coordination to make emergency transfers faster, improve access to specialised care and support life-saving transplantation.