Maldivian Changes Policy to Prioritize Transporting Patients in Need of Medical Evacuation

The national airline has changed its rules to make the transportation of patients in emergency situations its top priority.

The decision was announced by Transport and Aviation Minister Captain Mohamed Ameen in a post on X today. Minister Ameen’s remarks come at a time when people have been critical about the delay in bringing a child to Malé for treatment.

In his post on X, he said that one of the top priorities of the government is to introduce air ambulance services in Maldives.

The air ambulance service will start on March 1st, as promised by the President, he said. The President has announced that a national airline Dash-8 300 aircraft has been modified and will be used as an air ambulance.

In addition to the introduction of air ambulance services, Maldivian has now made major changes to its policies, making emergency patient transportation a top priority in the airline’s flight schedule.

According to Ameen, with this change, if the hospital informs a patient that he or she needs to be transported in an emergency, the top priority of Maldivian Airlines will be to carry the person who needs to be carried in the emergency.

Defense Minister Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon has said that 93 percent of the patients medically evacuated since 2021 have been transported by the national airline.