Spanish Clipper National Air has been using its new Citation 500 for the urgent transportation of donor organs. Operations manager Alfred Bijl spoke to EBAN about the logistics involved in such a delicate operation.

"We normally transport human transplant organs at night because there is more space in the operating theatre. They are long operations and they need to monopolise the rooms. I don't think the doctors would choose to do it at night, it is done then so that there is room," said Bijl.

EBAN, never squeamish, sought more details about these life-saving missions: Is there a great need for speed? "That depends on the organ. The liver, lungs and heart are flown. The rest normally go by regular flight. They make the extraction, put the organ in an ice-box and send it by road or scheduled flight. But with the heart, lungs or liver, they have to use charter flights because they do not live as long," he said.

Have you ever had a situation where you were in danger of not getting the organs to their destination in time? "No, never," said Bijl. "I can remember years ago, but not in this company, we were in a hurry because the people needed the organ and there was bad weather. We had a look at the last minute to see if we could come in, and we could, so it was ok.

"Normally with this type of flight, when they call us, all the operations staff are moving and working. We have to be on time, we cannot say "we tried" because the person who is waiting for the organ has to be brought to the hospital, has to be prepared, in some cases has to be opened up, at the same time as we are bringing the organ. Okay, they don't usually open the patient until we know everything is going smoothly, but we have to be sure," said Bijl, not sparing us the details.

"Every transplant operation is definite to go ahead, they do not send the organ through without testing to make sure it is viable. Even then, sometimes when they open the patient, things change - it is not the colour that they want or the size they like. Normally with this type of flight it is 95 to 97 per cent certain that everything is okay with the flight, the patient and the organ."

Spanish Clipper specialises in air medical flights, as well as operating air taxi and commuter roles. With the new arrival, the Barcelona-based air taxi company now has a pair of Citation 500s. Both came from the USA. "We have been flying throughout Spain, Europe and north Africa," reported Bijl. "Our two 500s can carry six and seven passengers respectively, who are mostly vips and executives. We have stretcher facilities, and can convert either 500 in 30 minutes. We are flying for the largest insurance company in Catalonia.

"We also fly equipment and cargo for car assembly lines. Plus celebrities, artists, singers, performers. "We have ground staff, technical support, and are trying to get JAR-145 certified. In six months we will have our maintenance certified," he asserted.

Bijl is Dutch. He came to Spanich Clipper five years ago, and has worked for other charterers in Spain since then, returning to Clipper in March 2000 as operations manager.