Patient misses lung transplant due to air carrier unavailability

A patient in need missed the opportunity for a lung transplant abroad because none of the collaborating air carriers was able to make the flight, the health insurance organisation (HIO) said on Wednesday.

On February 2, just after 11pm, the HIO was informed that there was an available lung transplant abroad and a patient need to be airlifted to the hospital by 3am the next morning. The HIO did not name the country where the operation was to take place.

All procedures were set in motion and all air carriers the health ministry has been collaborating with over many years were contacted.

“Despite the immediate and repeated efforts on behalf of the HIO, none of the collaborating air carriers was able to make the airlift within the specified timeframe of three hours,” the HIO said.

It was also impossible for the hospital abroad to delay the procedure.

“In cases of potential transplants, the timeframes are determined by strict international clinical and operational constraints, which cannot be modified administratively,” the HIO explained.

It added that the failure to airlift the patient to the hospital abroad cannot be attributed to inaction or omission on behalf of the HIO.

The HIO was responding to media reports around the incident. It clarified that it was not involved in patient evaluation, but handled the logistics according to a protocol implemented for all patients to be sent abroad.

Since October 2, 2025, the HIO has sent 198 patients abroad, of which 27 were airlifted and nine involved life-threatening health conditions.