The aeromedical jet fleet of Australia-based LifeFlight has helped twice as many people over this past financial year than over the previous one. Its jets, based in Brisbane, Townsville and Singapore, helped a total of 948 people over the 12 months to 30 June, 2024.

The Townsville crew helped 8,177 people, up 11.2 per cent on the previous year, as the base celebrates its 15th year in operation. Crews completed numerous international missions, one of which involved helping to save the life of Australian surfer Mark Richardson, who was flown from Bali to Darwin following complications from a stomach ulcer that left him with severe internal bleeding.

Across its Townsville and Brisbane fixed wing bases, LifeFlight helped 850 people in FY24, a massive 79 per cent increase on the past year. LifeFlight's Singapore-based air ambulance also had a busy year, airlifting 98 people. This included evacuating Keith Davis and Kerry Jordan from Bangkok to Australia in May, after they were injured when their Singapore Airlines flight was hit by severe turbulence.

General manager, commercial partnerships Tyson Smith says: “The financial year results, with people helped up 100 per cent across our jet bases in Brisbane, Townsville and Singapore, was driven by strong domestic demand and an increase in international repatriation missions. We’re one of a few aeromedical providers with integrated bases on two continents. Through our Townsville jet we can deploy quickly to the far north or Central Queensland so we can bring patients back to major airports and hospitals. Our air ambulance crews also play a key role retrieving Australians who become seriously ill and injured overseas as can be seen from the Keith Davis and Mark Richardson cases, which used our Challenger 604 jets and highly skilled intensive care medical teams and pilots.”

Medical director Dr Jeff Hooper adds: “Our teams have the specialist emergency medicine skills required to provide the best available treatment to people even while operating 30,000 feet above the ground. Our highly skilled intensive care medical teams and pilots, and their rapid aeromedical intervention, can often be the difference between life and death. That's why our work is so important to people living in regional Queensland and abroad.”

LifeFlight's fleet of four air ambulance jets and nine rotary-wing aircraft operates from eight bases across Queensland and Singapore, and is available 24/365, directly servicing an area of 1.85 million square kilometres. It supports search and rescue efforts across 53 million square kilometres of land and sea for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. Medical teams work from aeromedical bases at Mount Isa, Townsville, Bundaberg, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Roma, Brisbane and Singapore. Across both its jet and helicopter fleets, the aeromedical provider helped a record 8,177 people in FY24. Its helicopter crews completed 3,378 missions, while crews aboard its nine rotary-wing aircraft helped 5,313 people, up 131 per cent on FY23. LifeFlight's choppers spent 5,159 hours in the air, with Toowoomba LifeFlight crews clocking up the most hours across the fleet with 1,164 hours.

Rescue crews helped an average of 157 patients per week, the equivalent of one every 64 minutes, and COO Lee Schofield says: “The numbers keep rising each year, which shows how crucial LifeFlight's aeromedical service is, reaching far and wide across our state and helping thousands of people. This past financial year our crews have saved people from challenging situations on land and sea, and even on the side of mountains. Our crews are called any day, any time, and are always ready to spring into action, even in precarious situations, all at no cost to the patient. This next financial year we'll be able to do even more with five additional AW139 helicopters added to our fleet and new expanded bases in Mount Isa and the Sunshine Coast.”

LifeFlight's Brisbane airport base accommodates two Challenger 604 air ambulance jets, while two other jet bases in Townsville and Singapore ensure long-distance fixed wing aeromedical coverage. The jet crews helped 948 people in FY24, a 100 per cent spike from 473 in 2023.

There is also a helicopter based at Brisbane airport, which helped 1,672 people. LifeFlight will become a major tenant when the new Queensland Regional Aeromedical Base is completed in 2026.

The organisation directly provided a net injection of $95 million into the Queensland economy through its profit-for-purpose activities as well as the operation of eight Queensland bases, training academy, foundation and engineering facilities. The community impact from LifeFlight's services is significant, with every $1 spent equating to a social benefit of $8.20 for an overall social and economic benefit of more than $1 billion. This means the value to community in the number of lives saved and the economic benefit outstripped the cost of providing the service by more than eight times.

Since taking to the skies 45 years ago LifeFlight has helped close to 90,000 people.