Story ID: 
LifeFlight Opens Singapore Base
By: Mark Huber
Caption: Australia's LifeFlight air ambulance service is opening a base in Singapore.
Word Count: 141
Australia's LifeFlight air ambulance service is opening a base in Singapore to better facilitate the repatriation of patients throughout the South Pacific and Asia. Queensland-based LifeFlight currently operates a fleet of Bombardier Challenger 604s and Learjet 45s. Three more jets joined the fleet earlier this year.

The base expansion was facilitated after the company received a contract award to provide aeromedical services for a large multi-national corporation, said LifeFlight CEO Ashley van de Velde.

Two of the Challenger 604s will be permanently based overseas and be crewed by a team of up to five, including two pilots, a third flight crewmember for longer flights, a critical care doctor, and a flight nurse. LifeFlight began operations in 2004. The company previously operated a base in Singapore from 2017 to 2018 but shuttered it to better address demand within Australia.