Australia's Royal Flying Doctor Service (Sydney Kingsford Smith) has signed an agreement Textron Aviation for the purchase of King Air turboprop aircraft.
Under the terms of the deal, the RFDS has ordered two modified Beechcraft King Air 350 cargo heavyweight aircraft with deliveries due to begin during the third quarter of this year. The new turboprops will replace the operator's existing King Air B200 aircraft in order to modernize its patient transfer and air ambulance fleet.
The two new King Air 350 turboprops will be configured with an 11-pax, high-density seating configuration. This will allow the RFDS to transport passengers from rural and remote communities to their regional healthcare facilities. The organization plans to take advantage of the flexibility of the King Air 350 by converting it from its high-density seating to air ambulance configurations and back as needed for each mission.
The RFDS operates sixty-six aircraft including a variety of Beech (twin turboprop) King Air B200/300s, sixteen PC-12s, Cessna (single turboprop) C208 Grand Caravans, and Hawker 800XPs deployed to its Central, Queensland, Southeastern and Western Operational sectors. This year, it is also expecting its first PC-24 from Pilatus Aircraft (PCH, Buochs).
