In 2008 Spain’s Iberia Airlines carried a total of 121 human organs for transplants on its regular flights, in collaboration with the National Transplant Organisation (ONT) with which it has a standing agreement.
Madrid – Specifically, the company carried 82 kidneys and 39 livers. The organs were carried in special refrigerated containers under the close custody of flight crews who handed them over on arrival to ONT personnel waiting at the airport.
This service, for which Iberia does not charge, is particularly useful when donor and receiver are in different cities. Time is of the essence, since extracted organs remain viable for only a limited period, and Iberia’s wide range of destinations and flights is often of crucial importance.
Since beginning its cooperation with the ONT more than 15 years ago, Iberia has carried an average of more than 120 organs per year.
Spain Sets Record in Organ Donations and Transplants
Spain leads the world in organ transplants. The latest data shows that Spain set a new record with a total of 3,945 transplants and 1,577 donors in 2008. In addition, the number of donors per million of population in Spain was double the European average, with 34.2 donors per million vs. 16.8 for the European Union as a whole. In the United States the proportion was 26.5 per million and in South America it was 5.7. The total number of transplants in Spain rose by 3% in 2008, with a record number for those of the kidney (2,229), the lung (192), the pancreas (110) and the intestine (14).
Since the ONT was established in 1989, the number of donors in Spain has climbed from 14 per million to 34.5 per million.
