Auckland, New Zealand to Australia, 24/7
Air Ambulance Auckland to Sydney
Bed-to-bed transfers with a medical team on board and ground ambulances at both ends. About 3 hours nonstop across the Tasman.
Send patient details
We've filled in Auckland and Sydney; change them if needed. A coordinator calls you back to go through the rest.
- Distance
- About 2,160 km
- Flight time
- About 3 hours nonstop
- Typical aircraft
- Learjet or Hawker 800
- Fuel stop?
- No
Auckland (AKL) to Sydney (SYD). Times are planning estimates and change with winds, aircraft and the patient's needs.
What is involved in getting a patient from Auckland to Sydney?
Auckland to Sydney is a short trans-Tasman flight, and New Zealand's hospitals provide a high standard of care. When we move a patient on this route, it is rarely because treatment is unavailable. It is usually to bring someone home to family, to a specialist they already see, or to continue a long recovery in their own health system.
Because the patient is often stable by the time they move, this is a route where a nurse escort on a scheduled flight is frequently the right answer.
How long is the flight, and does it need a fuel stop?
A Learjet or Hawker 800 flies Auckland to Sydney nonstop in about three hours. The patient clears the Australian border on arrival.
For patients elsewhere in New Zealand, such as Christchurch, Queenstown or Wellington, we can usually collect them from the nearest airport rather than routing through Auckland.
New Zealand is usually two hours ahead of Sydney. The two countries change their clocks for daylight saving on different dates, so for a few weeks a year the gap is one or three hours.
Why do Australians need to come home from Auckland?
Accidents on holiday
Car crashes, falls when hiking, and skiing and adventure-sport injuries.
Heart problems and stroke
Older travellers who have a heart attack or stroke while visiting family in New Zealand.
Long rehabilitation
Patients who have had their acute treatment in New Zealand and need weeks of rehabilitation closer to home.
Australians working in New Zealand
People living and working across the Tasman who need to come home for ongoing care.
Can you arrange the ambulance and hospital at both ends?
Yes. The transfer is planned bed to bed, so the family doesn't have to organise anything at either end.
In Auckland
In Auckland, patients are usually at Auckland City Hospital, Middlemore or North Shore Hospital, or a private hospital. New Zealand's ACC scheme can cover treatment for accidental injuries to visitors, but it generally does not cover the cost of getting home, so check with the travel insurer early.
A road ambulance takes the patient from the ward to the aircraft at Auckland Airport.
In Sydney
We arrange acceptance at a Sydney hospital that suits the patient's condition and where they live, or at a hospital elsewhere in New South Wales.
A road ambulance meets the aircraft at Sydney Airport. Because many trans-Tasman patients are already well into recovery, the receiving bed is sometimes a rehabilitation unit rather than an acute ward.
Does the patient need an air ambulance?
There are many scheduled flights a day between Auckland and Sydney, taking about three hours. For stable patients, a nurse escort on one of them is often the most practical and affordable option, subject to the airline's medical clearance.
What documents are needed from Auckland to Sydney?
New Zealand to Australia is one of the simpler routes for paperwork. Australian and New Zealand citizens travel between the two countries on a passport without applying for a visa. We still need the passport, an English discharge summary from the Auckland hospital, and the insurance details.
Visitors injured in New Zealand are covered by ACC for treatment there, but ACC does not usually pay for the trip home, so travel insurance or private payment covers the flight. If the patient is an Australian resident, keep the Medicare card handy for the Sydney hospital admission.
FAQ