RFDS Queensland Section to acquire six King Air 260Cs to replace ageing B200 fleet

The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) Queensland Section will acquire six new King Air 260C turbo­prop aircraft, with deliveries scheduled between 2028 and 2030, to replace its ageing King Air B200 fleet. The section's 2024/25 Annual Report identified the King Air 260C as the "optimal aircraft" to succeed the B200 series, several of which were manufactured as far back as 2004.

The RFDS Queensland Section currently operates 26 Beechcraft King Air turboprops in total: sixteen King Air B200 series aircraft, four King Air B350CHWs and six King Air B360s. Those aircraft transported approximately 13,000 patients during the 2024/25 financial year. The section covers more than 22% of Australia's landmass — approximately 1.723 million square kilometres — the bulk of which is remote and sparsely populated.

RFDS Queensland Section CEO Meredith Staib said the acquisition is "an exciting new chapter in the RFDS (Queensland Section) fleet strategy and a once-in-a-generation investment in the future of aeromedical care," adding that the new aircraft "will be more powerful than its predecessor, helping our medical crews reach patients sooner and transfer them safely to the care they need."

Sunshine Coast-based company HeliMods will carry out bespoke aeromedical modifications to each King Air 260C, including a purpose-built aeromedical mission system, updated avionics, navigation and safety systems. The aircraft will retain the capability to operate from shorter, remote airstrips. Existing RFDS aeromedical aircraft are configured with two stretcher beds and three seats, an additional battery for medical power, a medical oxygen and suction system, and an intercommunication system between the cockpit and cabin medical staff, with some aircraft featuring a large cargo door in place of the standard passenger door to facilitate patient loading. HeliMods founder Will Shrapnel said, "Queensland's size and remoteness present some of the most challenging healthcare delivery conditions anywhere in the world. We're focused on ensuring the platform delivers exceptional patient care, crew safety and operational capability." The RFDS Queensland Section expects to take delivery of its first fully fitted King Air 260C in 2028.

This order fits the pattern of fleet renewal in aeromedical aviation, where operators replace ageing turboprops with newer variants of the same family rather than switching platforms, preserving crew training, maintenance and airstrip-performance continuity while gaining updated systems and power. For a service covering over a fifth of Australia's landmass, short-field capability is not a preference but an operating constraint, which is why the section is retaining the King Air line rather than shopping across types.

The modification stage is where the real specification lives: HeliMods' work on the mission system, avionics and medical fit-out determines how the aircraft actually performs in service, separate from the airframe order itself. This is typical of aeromedical fleets generally, where OEM aircraft are delivered green and a specialist completes the conversion before the platform can fly a mission.

With deliveries running from 2028 to 2030 and the first fully fitted aircraft due in 2028, the near-term signal to watch is how the B200 fleet is phased out alongside the B350CHW and B360 aircraft already in service, and whether HeliMods' modification timeline holds against the delivery schedule Beechcraft sets for the six 260Cs.