The Saudi Red Crescent Authority is seeking an operator for its air ambulance services in 2025, information on the Saudi tendering platform Etimad showed. The latest tender was published on October 14 after a previous attempt had failed.
The operator is expected to provide air ambulance services throughout Saudi Arabia, a call that ends on October 24 states. Companies that have already applied are The Helicopter Company, an endeavor launched as part of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF)’s Vision 2030 strategy, Idaa Holding Company, and Rozna Engineering Consultancy.
The initial tender was opened on October 2 and ended on October 12, but no winner was announced. According to Etimad, three companies that applied for the service in the first rounds are Idaa Holding Company, Equipment Supply Company for Repairing Machinery and Machines, and Makin Value Trading Establishment.
Both calls were identical and stated that the chosen operator must have “a license approved by the General Authority of Civil Aviation and previous experience in air medical ambulance services, provided that the company is licensed by the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority to provide air ambulance transport services, with a minimum GACAR-121 license.” The license indicates that the aircraft could be both a rotorcraft and an aircraft, according to Saudi regulations.
In a press release from May this year, the SRCA stated that its flying fleet consists of seven air ambulances and two fixed-wing medevac aircraft. Most of its air operations are carried out by helicopters.
SRCA launched its air ambulance service in 2022 in cooperation with The Helicopter Company.
Among companies that did not apply for the tender, a potential operator for SRCA could be Alpha Star Aviation Services, which also works in aircraft and airport management. The company has a sole ATR72-600, HZ-A11 (msn 1184), registered as an ambulance, ch-aviation fleets shows. However, the company’s website shows that the remainder of its fleet occasionally operates medevac and ambulance services. In a 2023 social post, the company revealed that it was acquiring a medevac-configured Cessna Aircraft Company Citation and announced that a second would be arriving soon.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense (Saudi Arabia) medical services operator MSD takes care of medevacs with their fleet of five Beech (twin turboprop) Super King Air 350Cs, three G450s, two Gulfstream Vs, and two Learjet 60s, according to RVSM. According to a Saudi Gazette report from 2020, the ministry launched its own air ambulance service amid the Covid pandemic for emergency transports.
