Published : 07 Dec 2025, 06:12 PM
Updated : 21 Aug 2026, 02:51 PM
A Qatar-provided air ambulance originally planned to bring BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to London will no longer arrive in Dhaka for the transfer.
Instead, Qatar has hired a German air ambulance, according to the embassy in Dhaka.
The aircraft, leased from Nuremberg-based FAI Aviation Group, comes equipped with advanced medical facilities, the company’s website says.
It is a Bombardier Challenger CL-60 series twin-engine aircraft, modified with full medical configurations.
Serial information shows the aircraft was delivered by the manufacturer in 2018.
The plane is expected to fly from Nuremberg to Dhaka, stopping en route for refuelling.
FAI Aviation Group, which provides European business jets, VIP charters, and air ambulance services, says on its website that the aircraft has ventilators, monitoring units, infusion pumps, oxygen supply, medicines, and other advanced medical equipment.
Experienced doctors, nurses, and paramedics will be on board, trained to provide intensive care during air transport.
The company adds the ambulance is capable of transporting patients requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support.
ECMO allows the heart or lungs to function artificially, removing carbon dioxide and supplying oxygen-rich blood when the patient’s organs fail.
FAI Aviation personnel are reportedly specialists in transferring ECMO patients. The company coordinates with hospital medical teams to ensure safe transfers and provides ICU nurses and clinical perfusionists.
A clinical perfusionist, or cardiopulmonary bypass specialist, operates heart-lung machines during bypass surgery or when the patient’s heart or lungs fail, managing the equipment and patient care simultaneously.
For patients with very weak immunity, the aircraft includes a portable medical isolation unit (PMIU).
Its ventilation system purifies air before reaching the patient. Separate facilities are available for neonates, children, and adults.
Earlier, Qatar’s emir had sent an Airbus A319 for Khaleda’s transfer.
The Airbus was larger than the Bombardier Challenger, allowing more passengers to travel alongside the patient.
The current aircraft may carry only half the number of accompanying passengers.
