Another air ambulance service from Kythera to a hospital in Attica took place on Good Wednesday, 8 April 2026, confirming the critical role of air transport for the health safety of the island's residents and visitors.
According to official announcement of the General Staff of the Air Force (GAF), in the context of the social contribution of the Armed Forces and for the benefit of the EKAB, a specially adapted aircraft of the type B-360C (donated by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation). The aircraft operated to Kythera, where it picked up a patient, transporting him safely to the Elefsina Air Base in order to receive the necessary specialized medical care.
The operation in Kythera is part of a wider barrage of air evacuations that took place on the same day from various islands. Specifically, the Air Force completed 7.5 hours of flight time in 3 missions, transporting a total of 5 patients (including a child) from Zakynthos, Kos, Karpathos, Mykonos and Kythera to Araxos and Elefsina.
The focus again on the understaffing of the Hospital
The constant frequency with which air ambulances are required from the Kythera General Hospital - Kythera Health Centre «Triphyleion» brings back to the surface the marginal situation in which the health system of the island is in.
As was highlighted most dramatically in the recent meeting of the Local Coordination Body (LCCB) on 6 April, the hospital is plagued by a severe shortage of medical staff. The inability to manage critical or specialised cases locally makes the immediate transfer of patients to Athens a one-way street.
Especially now, during the Easter holiday period when the population of the island is multiplying, the «wings» of the Air Force prove once again to be the ultimate lifeline, until substantial solutions are provided to staffing the local health infrastructure.
