Maldivian (Q2, Malé) begins operating dedicated air ambulance services under a tripartite agreement with the country's Ministry of Health and the National Social Protection Agency on March 1, using its recently reactivated sole DHC-8-Q200.
8Q-IAQ (msn 542) has already been reconfigured into a medevac layout and has been repainted into a special livery. The 24.5-year-old turboprop has been in service with Maldivian since 2000 but was retired from passenger operations in July 2023. It is currently parked at Malé airport awaiting redeployment.
The aircraft is the only DHC-8-Q200 in Maldivian's fleet. The ch-aviation fleets module shows that the carrier also has one inactive DHC-8-200.
The government announced plans to task the state-owned carrier with running the country's medevac network in late 2023. Earlier this year, the governments of the Maldives and Sri Lanka signed an agreement to facilitate air ambulance operations between the Maldives and Colombo International, and in particular, to shorten the time necessary to secure approvals for such operations and allow for short-notice emergency flights.
The Maldives have historically relied on India for advanced medical care, but the two countries have had increasingly tense relations since the Indian Ocean archipelago nation elected a pro-Chinese government last year.
Besides the two DHC-8-(Q)200s, Maldivian also operates one A320-200, one ATR42-600 (with four more due), two ATR72-600s, eleven DHC-6-300s, and seven DHC-8-Q300s.
