Manipal Hospitals Partners with Sarla Aviation, Aeromed to Explore eVTOL Air Ambulances

The proposed model will focus on time-sensitive cases such as trauma, heart attacks, strokes, newborns requiring specialised care, and organ transplantation.

Manipal Hospitals, Sarla Aviation, a Bengaluru-based aerospace startup, and Aeromed, a Delhi-based medical transport and air ambulance provider, have joined hands to explore a new model of emergency medical transportation that could connect patients with specialised care while reducing the time lost to road congestion and long-distance travel.

The partnership brings together hospital-based clinical expertise, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aviation technology, and medical evacuation capabilities.

"What we have to now provide is seamless connectivity from the airport to the doorstep. That is where this will be very, very instrumental. With the kind of urbanisation and increase in population that we are seeing, we have to bring in new technologies to cater to that," Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, Minister of Civil Aviation of India, said.

Under the MoU signed, the three organisations will assess potential medical routes and develop processes for transferring patients between the point of pickup, ground ambulances, the aircraft, and hospitals.

The collaboration will also examine the design of the medical cabin and the integration of essential medical equipment into Sarla Aviation’s Shunya eVTOL aircraft.

"Healthcare is constantly evolving, and our responsibility is to embrace innovations that can make care more accessible, timely and effective. The integration of advanced aviation technology with our healthcare expertise has the potential to significantly transform emergency and inter-hospital patient transfers. Through this collaboration, we hope to help shape a safe, clinically robust and scalable model for next-generation air ambulance services in India, with the patient firmly at the centre," Dr. H. Sudarshan Ballal, Chairman, Manipal Hospitals, said.

The proposed model will focus on time-sensitive cases such as trauma, heart attacks, strokes, newborns requiring specialised care, and organ transplantation.

The partners will also work on clinical protocols, escalation procedures, training, insurance, and safety frameworks. Research into patient outcomes is expected to form another part of the collaboration.

For Manipal Hospitals, the hospital network and clinical expertise could help determine how an eVTOL-based service needs to function from a patient-care perspective.

At the same time, Aeromed brings experience in air ambulance operations and medical evacuation, while Sarla Aviation contributes to developing electric aircraft for future urban mobility.

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