Bangalore, Septermber 13, 2007 -  The much-talked about air ambulance project for the city is finally off the ground. Critically ill patients can now be flown to the 250-bed multi-specialty tertiary care New Apollo Hospital on Bannerghatta Road by a helicopter, which Deccan Aviation promises to be readied within 30 minutes of the emergency call.

Kick-starting this air-based emergency mission, the Apollo Hospitals Enterprise on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Deccan Aviation.

To avail of this service, the patient’s relatives should call 9880171066 or 1066 and be prepared to pay between Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lakh or Rs. 75,000 to Rs. 80,000 an hour of flying. But this amount could drop drastically, if the insurance firms offer medical insurance that covers air ambulance services, according to Deccan Aviation Executive Chairman Capt. G.R. Gopinath.

The New Apollo Hospitals Group was in talks with at least three insurance firms to introduce air evacuation in their medical insurance policies.

Medical evacuation, Capt. Gopinath said, was still in its “embryonic stage” in India. But in all the developed economies, although the costs were high, even middle class patients were able to afford it because of medical insurance.

For Deccan Aviation, he said, the tie-up with New Apollo Hospitals was part of its established work in air services for medical aid and emergency evacuations.