Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Australia, 24/7
Air Ambulance Dubai to Melbourne
Bed-to-bed transfers with a medical team on board and ground ambulances at both ends. About 15 hours flying, with one stop, often in Perth.
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- Distance
- About 11,650 km
- Flight time
- About 15 hours flying, around 16 to 17 hours with the stop
- Typical aircraft
- Gulfstream G550
- Fuel stop?
- Yes. One stop, often Perth, where the patient clears the border.
Dubai (DXB) or Al Maktoum (DWC) to Melbourne Tullamarine (MEL). Times are planning estimates and change with winds, aircraft and the patient's needs.
What is involved in getting a patient from Dubai to Melbourne?
Dubai is one of the main transit hubs between Europe and Australia, which is why many of the patients we fly from Dubai never meant to stay there. They were taken off a flight, or fell ill during a stopover.
Others are Australians living and working in the UAE who need to come home for serious illness. Dubai's hospitals are well equipped, so the patient is often stable by the time we move them.
How long is the flight, and does it need a fuel stop?
At about 11,600 kilometres, Dubai to Melbourne is beyond the safe range of an air ambulance with a full medical load. We usually plan one stop, often in Perth. The patient clears the Australian border there while the aircraft refuels, then flies on to Melbourne.
Dubai to Perth is about eleven hours in a Gulfstream G550, and Perth to Melbourne about three and a half. With the stop, allow sixteen to seventeen hours. We plan extra pilots or a crew change for a day that long.
Melbourne is six hours ahead of Dubai in Australian standard time and seven hours ahead in daylight saving.
Why do Australians need to come home from Dubai?
Passengers taken ill in transit
Strokes, heart attacks, blood clots and other emergencies on flights between Europe and Australia.
Australians working in the UAE
Expatriate workers and families who need treatment for a serious diagnosis at home.
Holiday travellers
Travellers on a Dubai stopover who are injured or fall ill.
Insurer-led repatriation
Cases where an insurer wants the patient moved from an expensive private hospital once they are stable.
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 Dubai
Patients may be at a government hospital such as Rashid Hospital or Dubai Hospital, or at a private hospital such as Mediclinic City Hospital or American Hospital Dubai. We request an English medical report and speak with the treating doctor.
Air ambulances can use Dubai International or Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central. A road ambulance takes the patient from the ward to the aircraft.
In Melbourne
We confirm a Melbourne hospital bed before departure. If the patient's condition changes in flight, the Perth stop gives the medical team an option to land the patient in an Australian hospital sooner.
A road ambulance meets the aircraft at Tullamarine and the flight team hands over in person.
Does the patient need an air ambulance?
There are nonstop scheduled flights from Dubai to Melbourne of about thirteen to fourteen hours. A stable patient can often fly with a nurse escort in business class, subject to the airline's medical clearance. This is usually far less expensive than an air ambulance.
What documents are needed from Dubai to Melbourne?
Dubai to Melbourne needs the passport, an English medical report, imaging and insurance details. Hospitals in Dubai generally want the account settled or guaranteed by an insurer before discharge. Patients who were taken off a transit flight should also keep their airline booking reference, as the airline and insurer will both ask for it.
UAE residents leaving for good may need to sort out their residence visa with their employer, and unpaid debts can stop a person leaving the UAE, so we check with the family that nothing is outstanding before departure day. Some medicines common in Australia are controlled in the UAE; our medical team brings its own supply under the right permits.
FAQ