My father lives in the Philippines and has no travel insurance. Can you still help?

Yes. We quote privately and explain each option, including a nurse escort on a scheduled flight, which costs much less than an air ambulance if he is fit for it.

The patient is on Siargao or Palawan. How do they get to Manila?

Usually by domestic flight, or by a dedicated aircraft for serious cases. We plan that leg with the local hospital as part of the transfer.

Can a diver with decompression illness fly home?

Only once a doctor says it is safe, and usually with a low cabin altitude. We plan the flight with the treating doctor and a hyperbaric specialist.

Which Australian city can the patient fly to?

Any. Direct flights serve Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and a dedicated aircraft can go wherever the receiving hospital is.

Manila, Cebu, Palawan and the provinces

Medical Repatriation from the Philippines to Australia

The Philippines is made up of more than 7,000 islands, and that shapes almost every transfer we arrange there. A patient in Manila or Cebu is usually close to a good private hospital and an international airport. A patient in Palawan, Siargao or a smaller island may need a boat or a domestic flight before anything else can happen.

Call 24/7: 1800 796 769

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From overseas: +61 3 8820 6840

Send patient details

A few details is enough. A coordinator calls you back to go through the rest.

Where is the patient now? *

Where do they need to go? *

Patient's condition, in plain words *

Level of care *

How urgent? *

Your name and phone *

Email (for your confirmation)

Medical reports (optional)Attach discharge summary or doctor's report (PDF or photo, up to 10 MB each)

Prefer WhatsApp? Message +61 3 8820 6840

Your privacy. Medical information you send is handled confidentially by our medevac coordination team and is only used to plan the patient's transfer. Reports are stored privately and never published. Privacy policy

What situations do Australians face in the Philippines?

Many of the Australians we help are visiting a partner's family, or have retired in the Philippines and become seriously ill. Others are divers and surfers on holiday.

Older Australians living in the Philippines

Retirees with heart disease, stroke or cancer who need to come home for treatment, sometimes without travel insurance because they live there.

Diving injuries

Decompression illness in Palawan, Bohol, Cebu and Puerto Galera, where the patient may need recompression before flying and a low cabin altitude on the way home.

Road and motorbike accidents

Injuries on provincial roads and tricycle accidents, often far from a well-equipped hospital.

Dengue and serious infections

Dengue is common in the wet season and can need hospital care, particularly for children and older adults.

How do hospitals in the Philippines handle discharge for a transfer?

In Manila, patients are usually at hospitals such as St Luke's Medical Center, Makati Medical Center or The Medical City. In Cebu, Chong Hua Hospital and Cebu Doctors' University Hospital are common. These hospitals provide English medical reports and are used to working with insurers.

Hospitals in the Philippines expect the bill to be paid, or covered by a guarantee of payment, before a patient leaves. Ask the billing department for a final statement early, as it can take a day to prepare. Provincial hospitals may have limited records and imaging, so the patient is sometimes moved to Manila or Cebu first.

Commercial stretcher or dedicated jet: which is right?

Seated with a medical escort

Direct flights from Manila reach Sydney and Melbourne in about eight to nine hours. A stable patient can fly with a nurse escort, often in business class.

Commercial airline stretcher

Stretcher places are offered on some Manila flights with notice and airline medical approval. For patients in the provinces, a domestic leg to Manila comes first.

Dedicated air ambulance jet

A long-range jet can fly Manila to the east coast nonstop; a mid-size jet stops in Darwin. A dedicated aircraft can also collect directly from Cebu or Clark.

If the patient is on a small island, tell us exactly where, as the first leg often decides the plan.

How stretcher repatriation compares in cost

What documents are needed?

We need the passport, the English medical report and imaging, and the insurer's claim number. For divers, we also need the dive profile and the record of any recompression treatment already given.

Australians who live in the Philippines should bring their visa or residence card and their Medicare card for the Australian hospital. Families paying privately should ask for an itemised statement of account for any later claim.

Which routes do we fly from the Philippines?

All routes we fly

We don't have a Philippines route page yet. These regional routes show how we plan flight times, aircraft and fuel stops into Australia:

Last reviewed 9 November 2026. Read alongside official travel advice: Travel advice: the Philippines (Smartraveller, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade); IATA Medical Manual (International Air Transport Association); Am I fit to fly? Guidance for passengers (UK Civil Aviation Authority); Travel insurance (Smartraveller, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade).

International medical repatriation guide