EDINBURGH, Scotland, March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Aircraft Medical, the UK medical devices company is delighted to announce it is sponsoring the prestigious 14th World Congress of Anaesthesiologists (the "Congress" or "WCA") in South Africa, alongside Baxter and Draeger. Held every four years, the WCA is the foremost world conference for anaesthesia professionals.

Not only is Aircraft Medical sponsoring the event, but the company's McGRATH(R) Series 5 Portable Video Laryngoscope will play a key role at the international congress, being demonstrated by a panel of US and European experts. The sponsorship decision underlines Aircraft's growing significance to the field of airway management, and the emerging Video Laryngoscope market.

Matt McGrath, Founder and CEO of Aircraft Medical said: "We are aiming to position the McGRATH(R) as a globally recognised brand and to underline this, we are delighted to sponsor this market leading conference. To date, our product has already enjoyed significant international market penetration. It has also recently been put into use at the world's largest hospital (the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital) and at the Groote Schuur Hospital, the home of the world's first heart transplant, both of which are in South Africa."

NOTES TO EDITORS

Aircraft Medical

Aircraft Medical is the manufacturer of the McGrath(R) Series 5 which is the world's first fully portable video laryngoscope. It is the first video laryngoscope with a guaranteed sterile blade, and the first laryngoscope that can vary in length to suit varying anatomy. The McGrath(R) Series 5 has helped keep patients alive in emergency cases where other equipment has failed, and as a result is enjoying significant market uptake.

To date, Aircraft Medical has signed distribution contracts in North America and several European countries, by December 2012 Aircraft Medical's Directors anticipate these contracts could generate cumulative McGrath(R) sales in excess of $100m. Matt McGrath, Aircraft Medical's CEO, was this month named "Young Scot of the Year" by the Institute of Contemporary Scotland, in recognition of the invention of the new technology, advancing healthcare, and the subsequent international success of the McGrath(R) Series 5 video laryngoscope.

World Congress of Anaesthesiolists

The World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) holds a World Congress of Anaesthesiologists (WCA) every 4 years. Individual national societies may bid to hold this in one of their major centres, and the successful Society is then mandated to organise the meeting on behalf of WFSA. The following cites have hosted the meeting in recent years:

- 2004: Paris

- 2000: Montreal

- 1996: Sydney

The South African Society of Anaesthesiologists won the bid to hold the WCA in 2008, the proposed city being Durban. Subsequent events have resulted in the venue being changed to Cape Town, one of the most sought-after and popular tourist attractions in the world. The meeting will be held in the Cape Town International Conference Centre, a brand-new enterprise situated between the Mother City Centre and the renowned Waterfront.

Contacts Aircraft Medical Matt McGrath, Chief Executive +44(0)130-718-6042 Buchanan Communications James Montgomerie +44(0)131-225-9864 Diane Stewart +44(0)131-226-6150

Contacts: Aircraft Medical: Matt McGrath, Chief Executive, +44(0)130-718-6042; Buchanan Communications, James Montgomerie, +44(0)131-225-9864, Diane Stewart, +44(0)131-226-6150