The air ambulance division of German operator FAI rent-a-jet has achieved revenue of more than €45m for the first time in the company's history. The 2016 figures are up seven per cent compared with 2015, and the operator also completed more than 10,000 combined flying hours across its fixed wing medical fleet. Following the addition of a Learjet 60 and Challenger 604 in January, this now comprises seven Learjet 55/60 and four 604s.

Based at FAI's headquarters at Albrecht Dürer International airport in Nuremberg, the aircraft are supported by 190 full-time staff and 50 part-time doctors and paramedics. Last year the team performed 892 missions and airlifted more than 1,000 patients from 329 destinations in 123 countries. In total, the company transported patients across 2,540,436 nm, a distance equivalent to circumnavigating the globe 117 times. FAI is the world's largest fixed wing air ambulance operator in terms of revenue.

“Despite the negative effect of the oil and gas crisis in the Middle East, we had a very successful year,” comments chairman Siegfried Axtmann. “The utilisation per aircraft on the Learjet is still a bit higher than on the Challengers. We had around 1,000 hours on each Challenger last year and close to 1,200 on the Learjets. We still have more capacity to utilise on the fleets of both types. I think a complete fleet balance would be 1,200 hours per year across the board, which would be good.

“With such a large, highly utilised fleet, one of each type in the fleet is permanently on the ground for maintenance, so the net fleet that is actually flying is six Learjets and three Challengers.”

Axtmann plans to invest in further aircraft but only when the time is right: “In terms of new aircraft, firstly you have to invest, and there is no way that you are going to achieve 100 per cent utilisation in the first year. But the market is there, and we flew around 10,000 hours of air time last year. We want to fly at least 11,000 this year on the ambulance fleet, so for us it makes sense to maximise the utilisation of our current fleet rather than acquire more at this stage.”

In other news, FAI's last remaining Learjet 35A has now departed to its new home in Mexico. Since 2001, a total of four Learjet 35A aircraft have sported the red and white FAI livery. Collectively, they have travelled around the world 450 times. Siegfried Axtmann handed the jet over to its new owner Carlos Salinas, CEO of Mexican operator Jet Rescue Air Ambulance.

“This Learjet type was our first and served as the engine for the company's growth in the field of air ambulance,” says Axtmann. “I hope that it will perform many happy landings for its new owner.”

The rise in demand for larger cabins in the air ambulance market as well as the need for different type ratings, maintenance and the stock of spare parts has resulted in FAI's decision to discontinue its 35A operations.