By Nigel Maxwell

Free flight service takes off in Northern Saskatchewan

Mar 25, 2016 | 12:00 PM

Northern Saskatchewan residents with urgent medical needs no longer have to worry about the cost of travel.

Transwest Air has partnered with Hope Air, a Canadian charity group that provides free flights for low income people. The service flies northern residents who need medical specialists into Saskatoon.

It makes sense for the company to get on board, Transwest Air Chief Operating Officer Garrett Lawless said.

“To be able to help out the communities we service and give them the same kind of access to medical specialists that people in the south routinely have access to, it was a no brainer decision for us,” Lawless said.

Hope Air has been operating since 1986.

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Patients who need to use the service contact Hope Air through their physician, and the service will make arrangements with the nearest participating airline.

“What we’ll do is we will free up seats on our scheduled service flights to make sure the individual plus an escort get free transport to Saskatoon,” Lawless said.

If the patient requires travel beyond Saskatoon, another participating airline would take them.

Since joining forces with Hope Air in late January, Transwest has transported two patients.

nmaxwell@panow.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell