Port Vila, Espiritu Santo and the outer islands
Medical Repatriation from Vanuatu to Australia
Vanuatu's hospitals provide emergency care, but intensive care, surgery and imaging are limited. When an Australian is seriously ill or injured there, the plan almost always involves getting them out, and the main question is how quickly it can be done safely.
Send patient details
A few details is enough. A coordinator calls you back to go through the rest.
What situations do Australians face in Vanuatu?
Most of the Australians we move from Vanuatu came on a cruise ship or to dive. Brisbane is about two and a half hours away by jet, which makes a dedicated air ambulance far more practical here than from Asia.
Cruise passengers
Ships call at Port Vila, Mystery Island and Luganville. Passengers with heart attacks, strokes, falls or serious infections are put ashore and need to get home.
Diving injuries
Decompression illness after dives on wrecks such as the SS President Coolidge off Santo. The patient needs a low cabin altitude and may need recompression in Australia.
Limited scheduled flights
Scheduled flights between Vanuatu and Australia are limited and services have changed in recent years. Stretcher places are rarely available.
Outer-island emergencies
Patients on Tanna, Malekula or other islands need a local flight to Port Vila or Santo before anything else.
How do hospitals in Vanuatu handle discharge for a transfer?
Vila Central Hospital is the main referral hospital, and there are private clinics in Port Vila. On Santo, Northern Provincial Hospital in Luganville is the main hospital. Records can be limited, so our doctor speaks with the treating doctor and, for cruise passengers, the ship's medical team.
Discharge is usually quick once the transfer is arranged, because local teams know the patient needs more than they can provide. Payment or an insurer's guarantee of payment is still expected, particularly at private clinics. Our flight team brings its own intensive care equipment and medicines.
Commercial stretcher or dedicated jet: which is right?
Seated with a medical escort
A stable patient who can sit upright can sometimes fly on a scheduled flight with a nurse escort, but seats are limited and flights don't run every day.
Commercial airline stretcher
Rarely available on scheduled services from Vanuatu. Most patients who must lie flat travel by air ambulance.
Dedicated air ambulance jet
The usual option. A Learjet or Hawker 800 flies Port Vila to Brisbane in about two and a half hours with no fuel stop, and can collect directly from Santo.
Because commercial options are so limited, we usually plan for an air ambulance from the start and adjust if the patient improves.
How stretcher repatriation compares in costWhat documents are needed?
We need the passport, the hospital or clinic report and the insurer's approval. Cruise passengers also need the ship's medical report; if their passport or luggage is still on the ship, the cruise line's port agent can usually help.
For divers, we ask for the dive profile and any oxygen or recompression treatment already given. Ni-Vanuatu patients referred to Australia need a visa, a hospital acceptance and an agreed payment arrangement before they can travel.
Which routes do we fly from Vanuatu?
All routes we flyFlight details for Vanuatu and nearby New Caledonia:
FAQ
Repatriation from Vanuatu: common questions
Last reviewed 9 November 2026. Read alongside official travel advice: Travel advice: Vanuatu (Smartraveller, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade); Travel insurance (Smartraveller, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade); IATA Medical Manual (International Air Transport Association).
International medical repatriation guide