Cargo-Variant King Airs To Be Outfitted With Medical Service Equipment

This week, at the 2007 Dubai Air Show, Hawker Beechcraft announced the sale of five Beechcraft King Air 350Cs to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Outfitted with Lifeport medical service equipment, these aircraft will be used for Saudi Ministry of Defense and Aviation (MODA) medevac transportation throughout Saudi Arabia.

Deliveries will begin mid-2008. The aircraft will be based in Riyadh.

"These sales reflect the strength of the King Air in the special-mission role," said Ted Farid, vice president New Business Development. "When you combine the King Air’s cabin-class comfort, and its rugged, quality construction, you begin to realize what makes the King Air great. The King Air has been a popular choice over the years for such missions as training (both pilot and rear crew), flight inspection, maritime and overland surveillance, and utility/VIP. It has proven its value through constant refinement, mission effectiveness and rock-solid reliability."

The Beechcraft King Air B350C is the cargo version of the commercial aircraft which includes a wide cargo door that ensures stretcher patients can be positioned in the aircraft with ease. The aircraft are fitted with Lifeport stretcher systems. The interiors are fully provisioned with overhead medical service modules to secure patient monitoring equipment.

"We evaluated a number of aircraft around the world for this mission and no other aircraft available could meet our needs for operations in and out of unimproved airports with the loads the King Air 350 can carry," said Major General Hamad Hassoun, director of Medevac for the Ministry of Defense and Aviation.

The Beech King Air line has been in continuous production since 1964, and is the most successful series of twin turbine-powered business aircraft ever built. More than 6,200 King Airs have been sold for corporate, commercial and special mission operations in more than 94 countries throughout the world.

There are currently four variants of the King Air -- the Beechcraft King Air 350, the Beechcraft King Air 350ER, the Beechcraft King Air B200GT and the Beechcraft King Air C90GTi.

FMI: www.hawkerbeechcraft.com, www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/rsmoda.htm