Turkey's Redstar Aviation says it is ‘flourishing’ this year with widened fleet capacity, allowing it to offer more availability and global coverage. The firm's augmented medical capability to perform complex missions such as active COVID-19 cases and patients requiring ECMO support has had a significant impact on its flight hours.

“Offering global coverage with additional capabilities, we have increased the total flight hours by 33 per cent at the end of Q3 of 2021 and we are continuing to develop this growth momentum,” says CEO Emre Dursun. “Considering our customer portfolio and the patients we have the privilege of repatriating and/or transporting to a higher level of care, we carry out efficient operations with both our Learjet 45 and Challenger 605 aircraft. Both aircraft types possess a popularity within the air ambulance industry due to mission characteristics as well as the expectations of our clients. While the Learjet 45s, with their dual stretcher capacity, are cost effective options even for long range missions, the Challenger 605 is preferred mostly in line with its long-range capability and cabin capacity customised to accommodate up to three patients and companions simultaneously.

“The pandemic brought many challenges to our life and business. During this period, we carried out many challenging missions and one of these was the longest flights of 26 hours with a COVID-19 patient. The aircraft departed from Bagram, Afghanistan for Houston, USA to conduct a critical mission of 14,129 km with a seven-leg flight and six technical stops and completing two crew changes en route, during which RSA’s specialised medical teams performed uninterrupted patient care through the portable medical isolation unit.”

Redstar performed a mission for a patient in their early 50s, diagnosed with MERS-CoV in the United Arab Emirates. From the very beginning of the illness, the patient was hospitalised in one of the top facilities in the country. However, the virus had spread extensively throughout the patient’s lungs in a very short time, and the patient was placed under ECMO (Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation) support due to severe ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome). “Despite ECMO support and continued multidisciplinary treatment, the patient’s overall condition did not improve and dependence on ECMO continued. A lung transplantation had become possibly the only remaining option, and the family had made the decision to go ahead with the operation in the United States,” continues Dursun. “We received a request for an air ambulance flight with ECMO support from the UAE to Pennsylvania, USA. A close communication loop was established between ourselves, the patient’s family, client and sending/receiving facilities in order to determine the feasibility of such an endeavour.”

During the first days of the pandemic, there were many uncertainties regarding critical ground services such as fuel, capability of performing crew changes out of base and other technical formalities due to the many different restrictions imposed by each country. “We overcame these uncertainties with relative ease thanks to our long-lasting relations with the relevant authorities. We enjoyed the benefit of already being prepared prior to the pandemic being officially declared to perform the transport of patients with contagious diseases. Since we had already been providing such services for various governmental and non-governmental organisations, our operational and medical infrastructure in terms of staff and equipment were ready to face COVID-19 when it all began.

“The entire world is going through some rough times, which has already revolutionised how we live and unfortunately, many are struggling to survive. Thankfully, we were able to flourish during these times, and we took this as a transformation opportunity that drove us to focus more on settlement of the structure and sources, not only adapting to this new lifestyle and necessities, but also offering the best service as always.”