Stories

How I overcame fear of flying

Published: January 21, 2025

Most people in Timor-Leste’s isolated communities have never been on a plane, but a MAF initiative gave people like Iria a chance to take off. Iria Mutu Soares, a mother from Maliana in the western part of Timor-Leste, was worried about...

Silent tragedy: Mission to support Tanzanian mums

Published: January 16, 2025

In just 45 minutes, a team from Maternity Africa flew with MAF to a dusty airstrip in northeast Tanzania with a mission to raise awareness on the devastating impact of obstetric fistula. MAF provided transport from Arusha to Malambo,...

How do you get your groceries?

Published: January 16, 2025

Around the world a MAF flight takes off or lands every 5.6 minutes. Daily, MAF flies around 370 passengers and over 11,900kg freight (not including passenger baggage allowances) and does around 100 hours of flying per day. Many of these...

MAF's Very First Flight

Published: April 14, 2025

On February 23rd, 1946, Betty Greene made history as the pilot of the first ever MAF flight. ‘On the morning of our departure, a group of friends gathered for prayer and to wish us well. After taxiing to the east end of the dirt strip, I...

Eliptamin Women’s Conference – MAF in Papua New Guinea

Published: January 16, 2025

An event hosting over 500 women would be a big undertaking in any country. But when you take into account the remoteness and lack of infrastructure in PNG, this becomes a major feat. That is just what the Min Baptist Union did in late June,...

MAF in Timor-Leste — Medevac from Atauro Island

Published: January 16, 2025

The life of a one-year-old boy, suffering from a lung condition, was saved when he was flown by MAF to receive urgent specialist medical treatment. MAF’s intervention was so vital because the young patient was on Atauro Island, separated by...

The First Yolngu Pilot

Published: January 16, 2025

My name is Yingiya Guyula and I’m a senior leader and elder from the Liya-dhalinymirr Djambarrpuyŋu clan. This is my journey with MAF in Arnhem Land. Aeroplanes before cars I was born and raised in the bush near Buckingham bay and the...

MAF Brings Cheers to Dusin, Papua New Guinea

Published: January 16, 2025

The flight from Dusin to Mt  Hagen takes less than 20 minutes – to travel by foot would be 3 days. Read the impact this 20 minute flight – just $50 worth of fuel – has: As he banked his Cessna 208 Caravan onto the final approach for...

Take a look inside MAF’s Mareeba hangar 

Published: January 16, 2025

MAF is known for its work in the air, but some of the most important tasks are done on the ground by our talented team of engineers.  Thanks to the generosity of MAF supporters, a new $4 million hangar complex was built at Mareeba Airport...

Keeping MAF safe

Published: January 16, 2025

Mareeba, a town on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland, flies under the radar in many ways, but the MAF hangar there is strategically positioned to serve several MAF country programs. In the Australian countryside, surrounded by...

Overcoming the barriers: How MAF helps medevac patients return home

Published: January 16, 2025

Salomon da Costa, his wife Eliazefa and baby Hajam with Estela Noronha, MAF Timor-Leste Passenger Virgilio Magno and a relative Imagine being rushed to hospital in an emergency, far away from family, and then having to make your own...

MAF Trek makes isolation real for students

Published: January 16, 2025

MAF’s Training Centre in Far North Queensland hosted a group of teenage students and teachers from across Australia for the inaugural MAF Trek, an event that lets students experience just how significant an MAF flight can be for people in...