Burketown locals may have noticed a rare sight in the skies this week—two Angel Flight planes touching down just 30 minutes apart on Wednesday, March 26.
The arrivals marked another important mission for Angel Flight Australia, with two separate medical teams travelling back and forth from Mount Isa and Townsville to deliver critical obstetric and cardiac care to communities across Doomadgee, Burketown, and Gununa (Mornington Island). These missions are part of Angel Flight’s growing efforts to support health professionals delivering frontline care in rural and remote parts of Queensland.
Over the past three years, Angel Flight has witnessed a surge in demand for health professional transport, prompting the launch of its Rural Medi-Flight program—a dedicated air service aimed at flying doctors and specialists into the bush, rather than flying patients out of community to access care. While the charity has traditionally focused on transporting patients to city-based medical appointments, the urgent rural healthcare gap led to this new initiative.
According to the Queensland Department of Health, people living in remote and very remote areas of the state are 1.3 times more likely to die prematurely, and twice as likely to be hospitalised for preventable conditions compared to those in metropolitan areas. Many remote towns lack regular access to specialists, with long distances, limited transport, and workforce shortages compounding the challenges.
Angel Flight CEO Marjorie Pagani said the growing demand across the Far North has made the case for a second aircraft in Townsville urgent.
“There is a real and immediate need to get doctors to where they’re most needed in rural Queensland—places like Burketown, Doomadgee, and Gununa. In the past 12 months alone, we’ve flown over 300 missions for health professionals in Queensland. Without a dedicated second aircraft in the north, we’re turning away missions we know could make a life-saving difference,” Ms Pagani said.
“Rural Medi-Flights is about delivering care directly to communities, reducing the need for people to leave home and travel long distances for treatment. But to continue and grow this work, we need sustainable funding support—these are services that should be part of a functioning health system.”
Operating with no state or federal government funding, Angel Flight has self-funded its Brisbane-based Cessna 402C aircraft to support these missions. On this latest journey, the plane transported cardiac specialists from Mount Isa to Burketown and Mornington Island, while an Angel Flight Townsville-based volunteer pilot flew in obstetricians from Women’s Health Circle to provide women’s health services across the region.
Angel Flight hopes to expand the Rural Medi-Flight model nationwide, with aircraft based in each capital city and key regional hubs like Townsville, Cairns, and Port Hedland. But until additional funding is secured, the organisation is focused on keeping its current services flying—ensuring doctors can continue to reach those who need care most.
For now, the skies over Burketown remain a symbol of something bigger: a community-first approach to healthcare delivery, powered by compassion, commitment, and a small aircraft making a big difference.
