Balearic medical flights: over 90% by helicopter

More than 90% of medical flights across the Balearic Islands use helicopters. On Menorca, no medical flight so far in 2026 has been unable to use one, health minister Manuela García told the Balearic Parliament on Tuesday, 10 November.

The islands will keep a medically equipped plane, which García said is particularly useful for newborn babies. She also said helicopters would gain substantially more capacity in future to evacuate patients from Menorca who need it.

The comments came after Unidas Podemos politician José María García raised concerns about helicopter flights. He said helicopters are less stable in wind and storms, vibrate continuously and lack a pressurised cabin, posing medical risks. Planes, he argued, fly faster and higher and have anti-icing equipment.

The minister rejected the idea that only a plane could maintain access to Menorca in bad weather. She said emergency manuals identify helicopters as the most suitable way to move patients between points 100 to 300 kilometres apart.

Topics: Missing & rescue

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com