Wagga Wagga teenager Jarrod Roesler and his mum Linda had the pleasure of sharing this milestone flight with pilot and former Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens on their flight home after Jarrod’s dialysis treatment in Sydney.

To date, Angel Flight have transported more than 60,000 passengers from their rural residences to their city medical appointments and home again.

Angel Flight is a charity that coordinates non-emergency flights for country people who are dealing with the triple threat of bad health, poor finances and daunting distances.

All flights with the service are free for country patients attending medical appointments in the city. 

Angel Flight pilots donate their time and their aircraft to complete these missions while Earth Angels, also known as drivers, donate their time and cars to transport patients from the airport to their appointments and back again.

 Angel Flight CEO Marjorie Pagani said donations made to the organisation went straight back to the volunteers as reimbursement for their fuel costs.

“We have 3000 plus volunteer pilots and aircraft and another 3000 plus volunteer drivers and cars that assist us to complete our missions,” she said.

“We receive no Government funding, we don’t pay for marketing or promotions and we don’t sell merchandise meaning that the majority of money donated goes straight back into Angel Flights to pay for the fuel which the pilots and drivers use on our missions”.

Local Cowra pilot and Angel Flight volunteer, Mark Dixon, said the organisation was a great way to give back to the community while also offering a training experience.

“We integrate the flights into some of our training, not only does it give you practice with real passengers it helps the community,” he said.

“It’s not cheep to fly and their is a limited number of pilots available, but we are reimbursed for the cost of fuel and they are a great organisation to work with and help”.

Mr Dixon said volunteering for Angel Flight was a great thing that those with a pilots licence who didn’t wish to fly for a commercial airline could do.

If you would like to volunteer with Angel Flight or make a donation, you can visit their website www.angelflight.org.au or visit their Facebook page.