Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR to Australia, 24/7
Air Ambulance Hong Kong to Sydney
Bed-to-bed transfers with a medical team on board and ground ambulances at both ends. About 9 hours nonstop in a long-range jet.
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We've filled in Hong Kong and Sydney; change them if needed. A coordinator calls you back to go through the rest.
- Distance
- About 7,390 km
- Flight time
- About 9 hours nonstop
- Typical aircraft
- Gulfstream G550
- Fuel stop?
- Not in a G550. A mid-size jet would need at least two stops.
Hong Kong International (HKG) 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 Hong Kong to Sydney?
Hong Kong to Sydney is a long flight, about 7,400 kilometres, nearly all of it over water. It is a route for long-range jets.
Hong Kong's hospitals provide excellent care, so patients we move on this route have usually been well treated. The move is about getting home: to family, to their own specialists, or out of an overseas hospital stay that is becoming very expensive.
How long is the flight, and does it need a fuel stop?
A Gulfstream G550 flies Hong Kong to Sydney nonstop in about nine hours.
A mid-size jet would need to stop at least twice, for example in the Philippines and Darwin, and the trip would take well over twelve hours. For an unwell patient, the nonstop flight is usually safer and more comfortable.
Sydney is two hours ahead of Hong Kong in Australian standard time and three hours ahead in daylight saving.
Why do Australians need to come home from Hong Kong?
Business travellers
Heart attacks, strokes and other emergencies in people travelling for work.
Australians living in Hong Kong
A large expatriate community, some of whom need treatment for serious illness at home.
Cruise and transit passengers
Passengers taken ill on cruises or flights through Hong Kong.
Specialist care after initial treatment
Patients who need ongoing care, such as cardiac rehabilitation or neurology follow-up, under their own Australian specialists.
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 Hong Kong
Patients may be at a public hospital such as Queen Mary or Queen Elizabeth, or at a private hospital such as Hong Kong Sanatorium, Matilda or Gleneagles Hong Kong. We speak with the treating doctor and request English medical reports.
A road ambulance takes the patient to the aircraft at Hong Kong International Airport on Lantau Island. From Hong Kong Island or Kowloon this is a drive of around 40 minutes or more, so we time it with the hospital.
In Sydney
In Sydney we arrange acceptance at a hospital that suits the patient's condition, such as Royal Prince Alfred, St Vincent's, Royal North Shore, Westmead or a private hospital.
A road ambulance meets the aircraft at Sydney Airport, and the flight team hands over in person with the Hong Kong records, imaging on disc and the in-flight notes.
Does the patient need an air ambulance?
Nonstop scheduled flights from Hong Kong to Sydney take about nine hours. A stable patient may fly with a nurse escort, or on an airline stretcher where offered, subject to the airline's medical clearance.
What documents are needed from Hong Kong to Sydney?
Hong Kong to Sydney needs the passport, an English medical report and imaging on disc. Most Hong Kong hospital reports are in English, but nursing notes and some test results may be in Chinese, and we arrange translation of anything the Sydney team needs.
Australians who live and work in Hong Kong often have employer medical cover rather than travel insurance, so bring the policy details and the insurer's case contact. Public hospitals in Hong Kong charge non-residents higher fees and usually want the account settled before discharge.
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