Malaga Airport provides health lifeline

ALTHOUGH everyone is well aware of airports and their ability to transport people and freight around the world, it is sometimes difficult to realise that an airport is also vitally important in the transfer of both patients and organs, to ensure the continued well-being of literally thousands of people each year.

Malaga airport has revealed that during 2015, it was involved in just under 1,000 ‘mercy flights’, which saw the transfer of over 1,750 patients and passengers, as well as organs for transplants.

Whilst the main route for Malaga was from Melilla, flights were also undertaken to or from Alicante, Canary Islands, Granada and Madrid, according to airport management company Aena.

As Spain is the European leader in organ transplants, it is not surprising that it has proven necessary to arrange for their transfer to any part of the country.