Scandinavian airline SAS has reached a new deal with the Norwegian Armed Forces for ‘strategic air evacuation’, which would see the carrier quickly convert one of its Airbus A320neo aircraft from a normal passenger plane into a flying hospital in the event of a major catastrophe or the outbreak of war.
SAS has used older Airbus A320 aircraft for similar evacuation missions in the past but with this latest agreement, the airline will have to go back to the drawing board to come up with a way to convert a standard passenger layout into a flying hospital complete with medical equipment and hospital beds.
In a statement, SAS’ chief commercial officer Paul Verhagen said the older flying hospitals had served it well, but it was now time for newer and more fuel-efficient aircraft to be used for these life-saving missions.
“Contributing to the safe transport of citizens across the world when crisis strikes is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we are grateful for the trust placed in us by the Norwegian Defense through this work,” Verhagen commented.
The deal currently encompasses the ability to convert two of SAS’ 68-strong fleet of A320neo aircraft into flying hospitals if the need were to arise. The planes would supplement the resources of the Norwegian Armed Forces.
In the past, SAS has supplied its flying hospitals to repatriate injured civilians out of Thailand following the 2004 Tsunami, and more recently, the aircraft have evacuated Ukrainian patients from the worn-torn country.
Most recently, NAF used this kind of contracted arrangement with SAS to fly back an ailing Norwegian king from Malaysia to Norway earlier this winter.