London, United Kingdom to Australia, 24/7
Air Ambulance London to Melbourne
Bed-to-bed transfers with a medical team on board and ground ambulances at both ends. About 24 hours or more with two fuel stops. Often done by commercial escort.
Send patient details
We've filled in London and Melbourne; change them if needed. A coordinator calls you back to go through the rest.
- Distance
- About 16,910 km
- Flight time
- About 20 to 21 hours flying, 24 hours or more door to door
- Typical aircraft
- Gulfstream G550
- Fuel stop?
- Yes. Two stops, typically in the Middle East and Asia.
London (Farnborough, Luton or Heathrow) 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 London to Melbourne?
London to Melbourne is close to the longest route there is, nearly 17,000 kilometres. Bringing a patient home this far takes careful planning, and for many patients the right answer is not an air ambulance at all.
Many of the people who need to come home from the UK are older Australians who were visiting family or travelling when they had a fall, a stroke or a heart problem.
How long is the flight, and does it need a fuel stop?
A Gulfstream G550 makes the trip in three legs, with fuel stops typically in the Middle East and in South or Southeast Asia. Flying time is about twenty to twenty-one hours. With the stops and ground time, the patient is travelling for twenty-four hours or more.
No single flight crew can legally fly that long, so we change crews on the way or carry extra pilots. The medical team is planned the same way, so nobody is caring for the patient beyond safe working hours.
Melbourne is nine to eleven hours ahead of London, depending on daylight saving at each end.
Why do Australians need to come home from London?
Hip fractures and falls
Older travellers who fall and break a hip, have surgery in a UK hospital, and need to get home for rehabilitation.
Strokes and heart attacks
Stroke and cardiac patients who have had acute treatment and now need ongoing care near family.
Australians living in the UK
People who have been living or working in the UK and need to come home to Australia after a serious diagnosis.
Long hospital stays
Patients who are stable but too unwell to fly unescorted, waiting in a UK hospital bed.
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 London
We work with NHS and private hospitals in London and across the UK. The UK and Australia have a reciprocal health care agreement that helps with medically necessary treatment, but it does not pay for getting a patient home, so travel insurance or the family usually covers that.
Air ambulances usually use a business aviation airport such as Farnborough or Luton. A road ambulance takes the patient from the ward to the aircraft or, for a commercial escort, to the airline at Heathrow.
In Melbourne
We confirm a Melbourne hospital bed before the patient leaves the UK, at a public hospital, a private hospital or a regional Victorian hospital near home.
A road ambulance meets the aircraft or flight at Tullamarine, and the escort or flight team hands over in person.
Does the patient need an air ambulance?
Scheduled flights from London to Melbourne connect through hubs such as Dubai, Doha or Singapore, and take twenty-two hours or more. For a stable patient, a nurse or doctor escort in business class is often the safest and most affordable option, subject to each airline's medical clearance. We plan the connection so the patient can rest between flights if needed.
What documents are needed from London to Melbourne?
London to Melbourne needs the passport, an NHS or private hospital discharge summary, imaging and insurance details. Under the reciprocal health care agreement between Australia and the UK, Australians visiting the UK can get medically necessary NHS treatment, but the agreement does not cover the flight home.
NHS discharge summaries can take a day or two to be typed up, so ask the ward for a copy early. Patients on regular medicines should bring enough for the whole journey and the first days in Melbourne, as UK prescriptions cannot be filled in Australia.
FAQ