Medical transport from India to Canada

Hundreds of thousands Indian-Canadians and Indian-Americans travel between North America and India each year, and unfortunately some of them face an unexpected medical emergency due to sudden illness or injury.

Often, families opt to transport the patient back to Canada or the US as soon as possible, to continue medical treatment, but struggle to find affordable solutions for medical transport from India to Canada or to the USA.

Cost of transporting a patient from India by air

If your family is currently experiencing a medical emergency in India, and has no travel insurance, or medical repatriation has been declined by insurance, or if you are confronted with a cap on the maximum amount that the insurance will cover, please read further!

Jet Companion is a Canadian medical escort service, specialized in long distance patient transfers. We frequently organize medical repatriation missions and shift patients from India to Canada, from Canada to India or between India and the US. But we also understand that medical repatriation between India and North America is a heavy financial burden for most families. Each year we assist in insurance-declined cases, by safely shifting patients between India and Canada or the US, at a price tag that families can afford.

Patient transport options between India and Canada or the US

We have different ways of transporting sick or injured passengers on commercial flights in and out of for example Vancouver or Toronto. Most patients can be safely transported in Business Class with one or two medical escorts. A patient who cannot sit at all, will require commercial stretcher service onboard the airplane.

Jet Companion can assist in finding the quickest, safest and least expensive way of transporting a loved-one, whether there is a medical crisis in which the patient needs to be shifted as soon as possible, or also in case of a planned relocation of an elderly person who wants to move back to India. Our medical escorts are professional nurses who travel with the patient to provide all support needed on the flight, including toilet assistance when the patient cannot stand or walk.

Medical patient shifting within India

Both Canada and India have unique challenges, that are not made any easier if the patient is staying outside of the large cities that have direct international flights.

What if the patient is in a small hospital in Bhopal, or at a house in Patna? Transporting a medical patient between India and Canada or the US requires the right expertise and experience. Rest assured, many journeys don’t start in Delhi or Mumbai, but originate elsewhere in India, like Punjab, Gujarat, Karnataka or West-Bengal.

At Jet Companion we work with partnering medical escort companies in India, who help us organize local transport to and from the large cities by ambulance, air ambulance, train or domestic commercial flights.
Together we have many years of combined experience, to help us save cost and avoid many common pitfalls. Our Canada-based and licensed aeromedical escorts are always on standby to travel to India at short notice, to bring or pick up a patient in the major gateways like Delhi, Mumbai or Ahmedabad on daily commercial flights in collaboration with our Indian sister companies.

Air ambulance from Delhi to Vancouver or from Mumbai to Toronto

Air ambulance companies from both Canada or India are able to provide patient transport services between the two countries. A long distance air ambulance has the ability to land at any international airport in India or Canada, making layovers unnecessary. However, chartering an air ambulance from India to anywhere in Canada, can be extremely expensive and outside the financial reach of many families.

Air ambulances are highly specialized services operated by small private jets, with the added cost of an intensive care unit. Unlike commercial airplanes, these jets need to make fuel stops on the way and they need to fly back to their base after the patient transfer.

The good news is that unless a patient is very sick and needs a dedicated air ambulance, there are cheaper options available to safely transport even a bedridden passenger back to Canada, onboard an international commercial flight, assisted by a commercial medical escort.
Commercial medical repatriation is never cheap, but it is always only a fraction of the cost of an air ambulance!

Traveling with a Commercial medical escort between Canada and India

A commercial medical escort is a nurse, advanced paramedic or a doctor, who is trained in providing care onboard commercial flights.
Passengers who need medical assistance during a commercial flight can book this service, by contacting Jet Companion.

Airlines that fly between India and Canada, like Air Canada and Air India, provide wheelchair assistance at no cost. Their airport staff can offer extra support for elderly passengers. However, if
medical or nursing assistance is needed in the airport or on the flight, a commercial medical escort must be considered for the full duration of the journey.

Best routes between North America and India for a medical patient

Jet Companion has safely transported many patients from India to Canada, or from Canada to India, on scheduled flights with Air India, Air Canada, Emirates, Qatar Airways, British Airways or Lufthansa. Other transport options between North America and India include flights with KLM, Air France, Cathay Pacific, American Airlines, United Airlines, ANA, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Turkish Airlines or Singapore Airlines.

Jet Companion has commercial medical escorts with Indian visa and partners with reliable sister companies in India that have been carefully selected. That way Jet Companion is able to transport patients with all sorts of medical problems on high-frequency routes to and from large cities like Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad or Chennai, as well as any smaller community in the interior of India.

Our Canadian medical escorts provide a high level of nursing care, throughout the journey. Read more about our aeromedical services here.

Airline stretcher service from India to Canada or from Canada to India

Passengers who are not able to sit in Business Class, can still be transported onboard commercial aircraft. Families are required to hire the services of a commercial medical escort before the airline can approve any stretcher service.

Airline stretcher service is often the most affordable way of transporting weak, bed-ridden, or injured passengers lying flat, between India and Canada or the US. Learn more about flying on a stretcher here.

Jet Companion flies stretcher patients to and from India on direct flights with
Air India, or with one stop in Dubai with Emirates. A select number of other airlines is also possible with one stopover at a transit airport like Amsterdam, London or Istanbul.

After landing safely in Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver, local stretcher transportation by air or ground can be organized to anywhere else in Canada. Commercial airline stretcher transports into the USA will arrive or depart at any of 23 international airports that handle stretcher cases.

If you are currently looking to transport someone who needs medical assistance, don’t get stuck or frustrated. Contact Jet Companion today for professional guidance and support.

How much does a medical escort from India to Canada cost?

A medical transfer between India and Canada or the US takes three to four days from the moment our medical escort is deployed until the medical escort is back at base. The patient transfer alone can take between 15 and 24 hours in the air.

But it is the care needs of the patient that will determine what the cost will be for an international medical transport between India and Canada or the US.

Is the passenger transported in business class with one or two medical escorts? Or is a stretcher necessary onboard the aircraft? Is a nurse the most adequate commercial medical escort? Or does the patient need a paramedic or a doctor?

Do we need to set up oxygen on the flight?
Are we planning for a direct flight, or a stopover?
Which airlines are involved?

No two quotes are the same, but Jet Companion will quote you an all-inclusive price from door-to-door, bed-to-bed or airport-to-airport.