Avincis' emergency medical helicopters, operating air ambulance missions for INEM, Portugal's national institute of medical emergency, made 29 landings at Lisbon's Santa Maria Hospital in the first month of operation of its newly-renovated heliport, which had been closed since 2020.

This is a significant improvement in the service provided to patients requiring urgent medical care. Previously, emergency medical helicopters bound for the Portuguese capital landed at other hospitals in greater Lisbon or at the military terminal at Humberto Delgado airport, and patients were then transported by ambulance to their destination hospital.

In the first month after reopening on 15 March, flights to Santa Maria have accounted for 36 per cent of Avincis' emergency medical helicopter operation on behalf of INEM and represented 81 per cent of all medical emergency flights destined to the capital.

John Boag, Avincis group CEO, says: “In the six months prior to the reopening of the Santa Maria Hospital helipad, 25 per cent of emergency medical flights to Lisbon landed at the military terminal at Humberto Delgado airport, which was not the optimal solution for the local community. We are pleased to see that within a month of the new helipad opening, that figure has dropped to eight per cent. It shows the investment made by the hospital administration is paying off, and we can now land patients directly where they need to be without any delays.”

Santa Maria Hospital, with almost 1,500 beds, is the largest hospital in the country since it opened in 1953. The heliport is located at street level, in a non-segregated area. Over the last seven decades, the hospital has expanded, and the city has grown around it, posing various challenges to the safety of aerial operations.

Jose Miranda, Avincis pilot and flight operations manager in Portugal, states: “The outcome is very positive. The helipad has been vastly improved, the approach channels to the heliport are better now and considering the hospital's proximity to the airport, with all its aerial traffic, the new procedures put in place also contribute to safer operations.”

The hospital administration invested more than half a million euros in renovating the infrastructure. In a long and rigorous process of recertification by Portugal's civil aviation authority, substantial improvements were implemented to guarantee the safe approach, landing and take off of helicopters.

Some of the changes were the removal of obstacles in the surrounding areas, new lighting and pavement for the helipad, new and dedicated corridors for ambulances, emergency medical vehicles and fire brigade vehicles that assist with aircraft landings.