Air Ambulance From Asia to the United States

Ultra-long-range critical care repatriation from Japan, Korea, China, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, India and the Gulf to US hospitals.

The longest missions we fly, and the ones most often quoted wrong

Asia to the United States is 6,000 to 8,000 nautical miles. No air ambulance does it in one leg. The honest answer is two or three technical stops, an augmented flight crew, a medical crew rotation, and twenty to thirty hours door to door. Anyone quoting materially less than that is either using an aircraft they do not have or omitting stops from the quote.

We give you the full routing, every stop, the crew plan and a realistic door-to-door time before you commit, and we plan the medical side around a patient who will be in the aircraft for more than a day. For some patients that is the right call. For others the right call is to stabilise locally for a week first, and we will say so.

Typical routings

From Northeast and Southeast Asia the usual path is east across the Pacific through Guam, Honolulu or Anchorage into the US West Coast and onward. From India and the Gulf it is often west through Europe and across the Atlantic. The routing is chosen by aircraft range, by winds on the day, and by where the patient can be safely offloaded if the clinical picture changes.

Where we fly from

Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Manila, Cebu, Bangkok, Phuket, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bali, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Delhi, Mumbai, Dubai and Doha.

When a commercial medical escort is the better answer

On a corridor this long the cost difference between a dedicated aircraft and a commercial airline stretcher or escort is very large. For a patient who is genuinely stable, a business-class escort or an airline stretcher with our medical crew is often clinically adequate and costs a fraction of a dedicated jet. We will tell you honestly which category the patient falls into. Recommending the cheaper option when it fits costs us the larger sale, which is precisely why the recommendation is worth something.

Insurance on long-haul repatriation

Commercial and employer plans do cover these flights when medical necessity is documented, and corporate and expatriate policies frequently cover them in full. Because the sums are large, the plan will scrutinise the file closely, which makes the physician certificate of medical necessity and the pre-authorization decisive. We build that file before we quote.

Free with qualifying insurance

If the plan qualifies and the transport is medically necessary, the flight costs the patient nothing out of pocket. We verify the benefits at no charge, we document medical necessity with the treating physician, we obtain the authorization before the aircraft is released, and we bill the insurer under a signed assignment of benefits.

Kaiser Permanente and Blue Cross Blue Shield are among the most straightforward plans we deal with on this corridor. Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Humana and Anthem all cover medically necessary air ambulance under most plans. Federal and state employee plans and the large teacher plans tend to have the broadest benefits of any category. TRICARE covers it through the regional contractor or the Overseas Program.

Medicare and Medicaid do not pay for transport across an international border. Medical necessity must be documented by the treating physician before the aircraft is released.

Self-pay: one fixed price, agreed in writing

A large share of the people who call us have no coverage, or a plan that will not cover this route. We quote those flights as a single all-inclusive price before you commit: aircraft, flight crew, medical crew, equipment, ground ambulance at both ends, landing, handling and permits. One number. No post-flight invoice for extras, and no surprise balance.

We will also tell you when a medical escort on a commercial airline is clinically adequate for the patient. It costs a fraction of a dedicated aircraft, and recommending it when it fits costs us the larger sale, which is exactly why you can trust the recommendation.

For hospital case managers, administrators and discharge planners

If you are holding a patient who is medically stable, has no funding source and has nowhere to be discharged to, repatriation is usually the only discharge plan available to you. We run these transports constantly and we understand what you need: the bed released, the liability closed, and documentation that stands up to review.

We secure the receiving hospital bed in most of the countries we serve. A missing passport is not the blocker it is assumed to be. Mexico admits its own nationals as a constitutional right — Article 11 of the Mexican Constitution gives every person the right to enter the Republic without need of a safe-conduct, passport or similar requirement — so we repatriate patients there who hold no passport and no travel document at all. Where a destination does require one, we arrange the emergency travel document through the consulate. We locate relatives in the home country and obtain essential personal documents such as birth certificates when they are missing. We hold our own aircraft and our own ground ambulance capability rather than brokering them, which is why a receiving confirmation does not take days.

What we need from you: the current medical summary, the destination city or receiving facility, and whoever is authorizing the cost. What you get back the same day: a fixed quote, the aircraft and crew configuration, and a realistic departure window.

Where a commercial plan has no contracted operator able to fly the mission, we will negotiate a single-case agreement with the plan before departure. Case managers use these routinely and they are often the fastest route to an authorized, paid transport.

Where we fly

Each of these corridors has its own aircraft requirements, permit timelines and insurance pattern. The pages below set out what actually applies on each one.

Air ambulance Caribbean to the United States

Air ambulance Central America to the United States

Air ambulance South America to the United States

Air ambulance Hawaii to the mainland United States

Air ambulance Canada and the United States, both directions

Air ambulance Europe to the United States and Canada

Licensing and authority

Jet Rescue Air Ambulance operates as Med Jets USA, Inc. under Florida Department of Health EMS Service Provider licence AIR9505, status clear, verifiable on the State of Florida public licence register. Jet Rescue Air Ambulance is an indirect air carrier. All flights are operated by FAA Part 135 certificated direct air carriers or their foreign equivalents.

Speak to a mission coordinator

You will reach a mission coordinator, not a call centre. Send the insurance card front and back, the patient name and date of birth, the hospital they are in, and a short description of the medical situation. The benefits review is free and carries no obligation.