KRALENDIJK- Fundashon Mariadal on Monday welcomed the aircraft of the new air ambulance operator SARPA during a brief ceremony at Flamingo Airport. 

Mariadal is quite enthusiastic about the collaboration, highlighting, among other things, the fact that the new aircraft can transport two patients simultaneously. “A meaningful addition to the existing services is the ability to transport two critically ill patients on air ambulance stretchers simultaneously with SARPA’s specially equipped planes.”

Hospital director Giovanni Frans is also pleased with the new collaboration. “We are happy with this collaboration. Sarpa has proven to be a reliable partner, and together with them, we can provide an even better service.”

Scepticism

However, there are also critical sounds in response to the news. Various people point out that the deployed turboprop aircraft flies considerably slower than the Medicair Learjets with which the hospital collaborated over the past decades.

Additionally, the issue of permits is still in question. Several experts believe that a Colombian company like SARPA is not allowed to fly between the islands of the former Dutch Antilles.