Community
2 April, 2025
Angel Flights pop into Burketown and Gulf communities
Services were brought to the communities, rather than flying out locals for to bigger centres.
Burketown residents may have witnessed an unusual sight last week as two Angel Flight planes landed at the local airport within 30 minutes of each other, underscoring the role the charity plays in delivering essential care to remote communities.
The dual arrivals marked significant missions for Angel Flight Australia, facilitating the transport of medical teams from Mount Isa and Townsville to provide crucial obstetric and cardiac care to communities in Doomadgee, Burketown and Mornington Island.
The flights were part of Angel Flight’s expanding Rural Medi-Flight program, which aims to bring specialists to patients in the bush, rather than the other way around.
“There is a real and immediate need to get doctors to where they’re most needed in rural Queensland,” said Angel Flight CEO Marjorie Pagani.
“In the past 12 months alone, we’ve flown over 300 missions for health professionals in Queensland. Without a dedicated second aircraft in the north, we’re turning away missions we know could make a life-saving difference.”
The recent missions saw the Brisbane-based Angel Flight Cessna 402C transport cardiac specialists from Mount Isa, while a Townsville-based volunteer pilot flew obstetricians from Women’s Health Circle to provide women’s health services.
