Medical repatriation and private air ambulance flights
Medical repatriation is the journey home after serious illness or injury abroad — a patient moved from a hospital overseas back to care in the UK, or from a UK hospital to their home country. We arrange private air ambulance flights and medical escorts on commercial services, around the clock, with complete bed-to-bed care. We are a broker: we coordinate ICU-equipped aircraft and medical teams from specialist operators, and we stay with the case from the first call to the handover at the receiving hospital.
In short
- Medical repatriation to and from the UK, across Europe and worldwide
- Fixed wing air ambulance with ICU-level equipment, or a medical escort on a commercial flight for stable patients
- Bed-to-bed: ground ambulances both ends, hospital handover coordinated
- We liaise with your insurer or assistance company on cover
- Available 24/7 — when time is critical, we move first and resolve the administration in parallel
What medical repatriation is — and when it is needed
Most cases start the same way: someone falls seriously ill or is injured on holiday or a work trip, is admitted to a local hospital, and reaches the point where the right next step is to continue treatment at home. Repatriation flights bring the patient back — to an NHS or private hospital in the UK, or from the UK to a hospital in their own country. It differs from emergency evacuation, which moves a patient urgently to the nearest suitable care; repatriation happens once the patient is stable enough to travel and the receiving hospital is arranged.
A private air ambulance is not the air ambulance charity
In the UK, “air ambulance” usually brings to mind the charity helicopters — London’s Air Ambulance, the regional HEMS services — that fly emergency doctors to accident scenes. They do vital work, and they are not what this page is about. The charities respond to emergencies at home; they do not fly patients back from a hospital in Spain or further afield. That is the role of a private air ambulance: a fixed wing air ambulance aircraft, staffed and equipped for intensive care in the air, arranged commercially for a specific patient and route. It is this international air ambulance service that we arrange.
How a repatriation works, bed to bed
Every case begins with a medical assessment: our coordinators obtain the treating hospital’s report, and a flight physician confirms fitness to fly and what the transfer requires — the aircraft, the equipment, the team. From there we arrange the whole chain: a ground ambulance from the ward to the aircraft, the flight itself with the medical crew, and a ground ambulance at the destination through to handover at the receiving hospital. Family can usually accompany the patient, depending on the aircraft and the case. One coordinator stays responsible throughout, and the receiving hospital is briefed before the patient arrives.
Air ambulance or medical escort — which one
Not every patient needs a dedicated aircraft. The honest answer depends on the medical picture:
- Dedicated air ambulance — for patients who need intensive care in the air, continuous monitoring, a stretcher, or isolation. The aircraft carries ICU-level equipment and a specialist medical team, and flies on the patient’s schedule.
- Medical escort flights — for stable patients who can sit or travel on a stretcher aboard a scheduled commercial flight, accompanied by a doctor or paramedic. Where it is medically appropriate, it is the more economical route, and we will say so.
We arrange both, and we recommend the option the case actually calls for — not the more expensive one.
Common routes into the UK
The classic case is an air ambulance from Spain to the UK — the Costas, the Balearics and the Canaries generate more British repatriations than anywhere else. France, Greece, Turkey and the ski regions of the Alps follow close behind, and we arrange intercontinental repatriation flights — from the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Middle East — where the case requires it. On arrival, we use the airport that serves the receiving hospital best: London Biggin Hill and Farnborough for the capital, or the regional airport nearest the patient’s home hospital — a fixed wing air ambulance is not tied to the major hubs.
What medical repatriation costs
Medical repatriation cost depends on the distance, the aircraft the case requires, the medical team and equipment on board, permits, and the ground transfers at both ends. A short European transfer by medical escort sits at a very different level from an intercontinental ICU flight, which is why we do not publish a price list — any figure that ignores the medical picture is a guess. What we can promise: a clear, itemised quote, prepared quickly and free of charge, and honest advice if a medical escort would serve the patient as well as a dedicated aircraft.
Many international health and travel insurance policies cover medically necessary transport, in full or in part. Our coordinators liaise directly with your insurer or assistance company, and where time is critical we move first and resolve the administration in parallel.
Why arrange it through a broker
Air ambulance operators fly their own aircraft; we hold no fleet at all. That means the aircraft we propose is chosen for the patient — the right range, the right equipment, the right positioning cost — from specialist medical operators across Europe and beyond, every one holding a current Air Operator Certificate. Our role is the coordination: hospital to hospital, insurer to medical crew, one advisor responsible for the whole journey. Read more about our air ambulance service, or send us the case — we answer around the clock.