If you or one of your party are taken ill abroad or hundreds of miles from a city your insurance will pay for you to travel by air ambulance.
The other main use for these aircraft is to repatriate the remains of loved ones who have died abroad.
Air ambulances come in two varieties, helicopters and fixed wing. Helicopter air ambulances usually carry emergency medical teams to the scene of an accident. They are extremely useful in rural and city situations. Fixed wing air ambulances can be divided into two types again; short haul and long haul.
Short haul air ambulances are often single or twin engined, propeller driven aircraft that can land on a road near to the accident. They travel faster than a helicopter and are cheaper to run. Fixed wing aircraft can also fly in conditions that would ground a helicopter ambulance. These are used in rural counties in US and Australia.. The air ambulance service in these situations is no luxury, it is essential if lives are to be saved.
Long haul air ambulances are usually business jets. These are used where patients are to be transported over transcontinental and transatlantic distances. They are quicker and more...