One number. One thousand stories.

Yesterday, 10 June, at 12:15, the Gulf Med Aviation Services helicopter based in Évora completed the one-thousandth mission in service of the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) of the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM). It was a secondary mission, to transfer a critically ill patient between Hospital José Joaquim Fernandes in Beja and Hospital de São José in Lisbon. On board were pilots Rodrigo Sá, who commanded the aircraft, and Alex Ullberg, along with the INEM medical team.

One thousand missions. Each one a real story. A call received, a helicopter airborne in under three minutes, a medical team in action. At the end of it, a life that received the help it needed.

Gulf Med Aviation Services, a Medilink International Group company, began operations in Portugal on 1 July 2025, following an international public tender. In under a year, the operation has delivered results that speak for themselves.

The figures

Total cumulative figures from 1 July 2025 to 10 June 2026

By base

"Not just a number"

The 1,000 missions are also the story of people. Of pilots who lifted off in the early hours to respond to an accident in a remote inland location. Of engineers who ensured the helicopter had everything it needed to fly. Of the INEM medical teams who, mission after mission, boarded with confidence and did their work. A vast team working to ensure that, at any point across mainland Portugal, there is an aerial response available and exclusively dedicated to medical emergency.

"One thousand missions are not merely a statistical milestone. They are one thousand moments when someone, somewhere in mainland Portugal, needed urgent help and we were there. This result reflects the dedication of the entire Gulf Med Aviation Services team and the joint effort with INEM's professionals.", says Simon J. Camilleri, CEO of Gulf Med Aviation Services and Group Executive Director of Medilink International.

"Operations in Portugal are now at cruising speed and our pilots have responded to the demands of this service in exemplary fashion. Average aircraft activation times are around three minutes. That figure says a great deal about the commitment and preparation of our teams.", says Hugo Chambel, Director of Gulf Med Aviation Services for the Iberian Peninsula.

"Behind every mission there is an enormous amount of work that begins long before the helicopter lifts off: maintenance, planning, training, coordination. When all of that functions as it should, the result shows in the air. And it shows in the figures being achieved.", adds Bram Sevenhuijsen, Flight Operations Manager, Gulf Med Aviation Services.

Operations in Portugal are maintained across four permanent bases in Évora, Loulé, Macedo de Cavaleiros and Viseu. At each of these bases, Airbus H145 helicopters — aircraft specifically designed for emergency medical missions — are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The fleet also includes a fifth H145 dedicated to reserve duty, ensuring rapid substitution whenever required.

On more than one occasion over these months, all four aircraft were simultaneously airborne. This was a further sign of an operation that was called upon to respond, at the same time, to four separate emergencies across the mainland, answering all of them in time for every request from INEM's Urgent Patient Coordination Centre.

Gulf Med Aviation Services marks this milestone with an explicit acknowledgement of the INEM medical teams. Doctors and nurses who, mission after mission, board the company's helicopters with confidence and do what they do best: save lives.

"This result belongs to them too. The partnership with INEM is the foundation of everything we do in Portugal.", concludes Simon J. Camilleri.