“The smiles and looks on people's faces, to me that's worth a million dollars,” Mr Barnier said.

The retired farmer was one of thousands around the country who offer free air transport to those financially and medically less fortunate.

With many more patients than volunteers, Angel Flight called for more pilots to join their ranks. Pilots donate their time and aircraft but have other expenses waived or reimbursed, like fuel. 

Not that Mr Barnier was counting.

 “You get more out of it than what you put into it,” he said. “I thought it was something I could do to help other people, which a lot of people can't.”

Mr Barnier had completed countless missions across the region but recalled one trip for a sick little boy with infectious optimism who was flown to Queensland for cancer tests 

“The trip up was very miserable,” he said. “He came out and he's all clear... the trip back laughing, joking, full of joy. We landed back here and he said ‘that was a bit rough’.”

Last month Angel Flight ticked over 20,000 missions when it transported Wagga teenager Jarrod Roesler for treatment in Sydney. He had been on the kidney transplant waiting list for three years and regularly travelled to the city for dialysis. Just one week after Angel Flight’s milestone flight, good news arrived that Jarrod would receive a new kidney.

Angel Flight pilots do not carry aeromedical staff or medical equipment and do not act as an alternative to the Flying Doctor (RFDS) or Air Ambulance.