The Air Ambulance division of German Special Mission Operator FAI rent-a-jet AG has reported record operational and financial results in 2016, achieving revenues of more than EUR45 million for the first time in the company's history.

The division's revenues for 2016 mark an increase of over 7% compared with 2015. For the first time the business generated more than 10,000 combined flying hours across its now 11-strong fleet of dedicated air ambulance jet aircraft. The fleet based at FAI's Headquarters at Albrecht Dürer International Airport in Nuremberg is supported by some 190 full time staff plus 50 part-time physicians and paramedics. FAI is the world's largest fixed wing air ambulance operator in terms of revenue.

Learjet 60 and Challenger 604 Added to Bolster the Air Ambulance Fleet to 11 Aircraft

In January, FAI added two aircraft to the dedicated air ambulance fleet -- a Learjet 60 and a Challenger 604 to boost the total number of aircraft operated in this division to 11 -- seven Learjet 55/60 and four Challenger 604s.

In 2016, FAI's air ambulance fleet successfully performed 892 missions and airlifted more than 1,000 patients from 329 destinations in 123 countries. In total, the company transported patients across 2,540,436 nm (4,704,887 km), a distance equivalent to circumnavigating the globe more than 117 times.

"Despite the negative effect the oil and gas crisis in the Middle East has had on the growth of FAI's Air Ambulance Business, we achieved a very successful 2016," commented FAI Chairman, Siegfried Axtmann, who acknowledged at the recent Corporate Jet Investor Conference in London that the business expects to grow a further 10% in 2017 - and it will be adding additional aircraft.

All FAI's aircraft are fully ICU equipped, dedicated air ambulance aircraft. FAI currently averages two intercontinental medical evacuations per day for its global client base and specialises in air support in hostile areas for the world's largest NGO.

Contributed by FAI Aviation Group