East African Aviation, a fledgling private airline in Ethiopia, imported a King Air 350 last month to serve as the first air ambulance service the country has ever had. The plane was purchased at a cost of 2.5 million dollars and outfitted with more than $500,000 in state-of-the-art medical equipment. Eagle Aviation, based in Colombia, South Carolina was responsible for the sale and Stevens Aviation at KGSP (Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport) for the installation of the medical equipment/mods and export of the aircraft.
Mulat Lemlemayehu (Capt.), The owner of East African Aviation, personally flew the aircraft from Greenville, South Carolina to Addis Ababa back in October.
“It was a 28 hours flight or it took four and a half days to reach here,” Mulat told Africa-based publication The Reporter.
The plane was chosen for its ability to land and take off on gravel, asphalt, and concrete runways. Additional considerations included the general comfort of the turboprop and its ability to take off on short runways. The option to cruise at an altitude of 35,000 feet at 300 knots (300 nautical miles per hour) was also considered highly valuable.
The King Air 350 can carry a patient, doctor and caretaker with ease. Among its numerous medical amenities it includes such essentials as a stretcher and oxygen. Mulat noted the intrinsic value of the equipment:
“A medical service equipment system has been installed in the aircraft starting from the cockpit to the cabin. This is very crucial for a patient who is under intensive care.”
One of the greatest medical need frustrations the country of Ethiopia has had was having to depend on neighboring countries of South Africa or Kenya for an air ambulance.
“Any aircraft can take a patient. But if you do not have the required medical equipment the patient may die abroad the aircraft. Though Ethiopia has the highest concentration of diplomats in Africa there is no aircraft which is fit to provide air ambulance service. And there were very sad incidents where patients died waiting for an air ambulance aircraft coming from Kenya or South Africa. We also had difficulty in transporting a VIP person for an emergency medical treatment abroad. This has prompted me to bring a modern air ambulance aircraft,” Mulat told The Reporter.
The air ambulance will operate out of Sudan and Djibouti soon. East African Aviation is working diligently with local insurance companies to make an affordable service option to Ethiopians.
East African Aviation is in the process of purchasing an additional King Air 350 that can be used for charter flights. For now, the air ambulance aircraft can be converted to a regular passenger aircraft to provide charter flight service.