Soaring aviation fuel costs are forcing the children’s charity flight service Little Wings to cut back, with consequences for some of the most vulnerable families in the far west.

The organisation has had to reduce its number of flights, limiting access to vital developmental assessments and therapy for children in Broken Hill and other remote communities. Chief executive Clare Pearson said the service had been operating for more than a decade, but the recent fuel crisis had hit it hard.

Little Wings provides free flights and ground transport for seriously ill children and their families across regional, rural and remote NSW, the ACT and Queensland, either bringing children to medical services or flying specialists out to them. It runs almost entirely on volunteers, with more than 100 pilots and ground crew donating their time, and it receives no baseline government funding and charges families no fees.

The cuts carry a direct local cost. Little Wings partners with Royal Far West through its Medical Wings program, and around 40 per cent of families travelling to Royal Far West’s Centre for Country Kids in Manly rely on the service, with several families using it every week. For far-west families, a Little Wings flight can be the difference between a child getting a diagnosis and going without.

The charity has received NSW Government grants in recent years but has no ongoing baseline funding, and is now calling for urgent, targeted support to keep flying through the fuel crisis. Families and supporters can find more through the Little Wings website.

This article appeared on Back Country Bulletin on 14 June 2026.