MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Two humanitarian flights between Argentina and the Falklands carried out this week

Humanitarian cooperation has remained active between Argentina and the United Kingdom since the South Atlantic war in 1982.

Two flights between Argentina and the Falkland Islands have been reported in the past few days for humanitarian reasons. One to Ushuaia was to bring an Argentina national and the one to Buenos Aires' Aeroparque was carried out for a US patient.

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In an unprecedented operation, a 75-year-old Argentine woman was flown to Ushuaia at 3.40 am Wednesday. The patient was on a cruise ship bound for Port Stanley when she was admitted to the local King Edward VII Hospital where physicians determined she required urgent surgery. The United Kingdom's Embassy in Buenos Aires was involved in the arrangements, Infobae reported.

The woman from the province of Neuquèn had already been treated when the cruise ship called in Ushuaia and her case was being monitored since. “Once we were informed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the absolute priority was focused on providing urgent attention to our compatriot who was in Puerto Argentino in an urgent state of health,” Fuegian Secretary of Malvinas, Antarctica, South Atlantic Islands and International Affairs of Tierra del Fuego Andrés Dachary said. “The response of the Fuegian health system was immediate, coordinating public and private means to be able to implement an evacuation in record time,” he added.

“We contacted the patient's health insurance company to coordinate the administrative procedures, bearing in mind that all the expenses involved in the operation are paid by the ¨[Fuegian Social Welfare system] OSEF and reimbursed by her health insurance company,” OSEF head Mariana Hruby explained. A medical Learjet 35 jet from the Buenos Aires-based company Dos Mil Aerosistemas SA was leased for the operation.

Humanitarian cooperation has remained active between Argentina and the United Kingdom since the South Atlantic war in 1982.