Bali, Indonesia to Australia, 24/7
Air Ambulance Bali to Brisbane
Bed-to-bed transfers with a medical team on board and ground ambulances at both ends. About 6 hours nonstop by long-range jet, or around 7.5 hours with a Darwin stop.
Send patient details
We've filled in Bali and Brisbane; change them if needed. A coordinator calls you back to go through the rest.
- Distance
- About 4,490 km
- Flight time
- About 6 hours nonstop, or 7.5 to 8 hours with one stop
- Typical aircraft
- Gulfstream G550 or Challenger 605 nonstop, or Hawker 800 with one stop
- Fuel stop?
- Not in a long-range jet. A mid-size jet refuels once, usually in Darwin.
Denpasar (DPS) to Brisbane (BNE). Times are planning estimates and change with winds, aircraft and the patient's needs.
What is involved in getting a patient from Bali to Brisbane?
Bali to Brisbane is one of the longer Bali routes, at about 4,500 kilometres, and it runs diagonally across the Top End rather than down the west coast. Queensland and northern New South Wales families fly to Bali in large numbers, and Brisbane is usually where they want the patient to land.
The distance is just beyond what a mid-size jet can cover with a medical crew on board, so the first decision is whether to send a long-range jet nonstop or a smaller aircraft that stops in Darwin. The answer depends on how the patient is doing, not on price alone.
How long is the flight, and does it need a fuel stop?
A Gulfstream G550 or Challenger 605 flies Denpasar to Brisbane nonstop in about six hours. The patient clears Australian border control on arrival in Brisbane.
A Hawker 800 lands in Darwin after about two and a half hours. The patient clears the border there while the aircraft refuels, then continues roughly four hours across to Brisbane. Allow seven and a half to eight hours in total. For a patient whose condition might change, the Darwin stop also puts an Australian hospital within reach halfway through the trip.
Queensland does not use daylight saving, so Brisbane is always two hours ahead of Bali. That steady gap makes it easier to plan an early departure from Denpasar and a mid-afternoon handover in Brisbane, when ward teams are fully staffed.
Why do Australians need to come home from Bali?
Surf and reef injuries
Shoulder dislocations, deep cuts from reef and board strikes, and neck injuries from shallow breaks at Uluwatu, Kuta and the Bukit Peninsula.
Scooter crashes
Broken wrists, legs and collarbones, and head injuries, where the family wants surgery and follow-up in Queensland.
Young travellers after Year 12
Many young Queenslanders travel to Bali after finishing school. Falls, alcohol-related injuries and methanol poisoning from contaminated drinks are among the cases we are called about.
Older travellers with chronic illness
Heart failure, chronic lung disease and diabetes complications that get worse in the heat and need ongoing hospital care at home.
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 Bali
We usually collect patients from BIMC Kuta or Nusa Dua, Siloam Denpasar, Kasih Ibu or Prof. Ngoerah Hospital. Before booking the aircraft, our doctor speaks with the treating doctor about the patient's oxygen needs, pain relief and whether they can lie flat for six hours.
The ambulance trip from Nusa Dua or Kuta to Ngurah Rai Airport is short in distance but can be slow in afternoon traffic, so we prefer morning departures. The ambulance drives airside and the patient is loaded straight from the stretcher into the aircraft.
In Brisbane
Brisbane receiving hospitals include the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and Princess Alexandra Hospital for major trauma, the Queensland Children's Hospital for children, and private hospitals such as The Wesley, the Mater and St Andrew's War Memorial. For Gold Coast families, Gold Coast University Hospital or a private hospital there may suit better.
A road ambulance meets the aircraft at Brisbane Airport, or at Gold Coast Airport if that is closer to the receiving hospital. The flight nurse or doctor travels with the patient to the ward and hands over in person.
Does the patient need an air ambulance?
There are direct scheduled flights from Denpasar to Brisbane of about six hours. A patient who can sit upright, or who is cleared by the airline for a stretcher, may be able to fly home with a nurse escort for a fraction of the cost of an air ambulance. Airline medical clearance usually takes a few days, so we start that request while we price the alternatives.
What documents are needed from Bali to Brisbane?
For Bali to Brisbane we need the passport, an English medical report with imaging, and the insurance claim number. If the plan includes the Darwin stop, the patient clears the border in Darwin, so all travel documents need to be on the aircraft rather than with family flying home separately.
Young travellers are sometimes covered by a parent's policy, or not covered at all. If you are unsure, send us the policy wording and the insurer's emergency number and we will help you ask the right questions. For injuries involving alcohol, insurers may ask for the hospital's blood results, so ask the hospital to keep them with the records.
FAQ