Swayze permitted to use NASA airstrip

Patrick Swayze is using a government airbase to fly himself to hospital to be treated for pancreatic cancer.

The actor has been given permission to use NASA-owned Moffett Federal Airfield, an ex-navy base which is closed to civilians, to travel between Stanford University Medical Centre and his home in southern California.

He will fly his own aircraft on the one-hour flight to Moffett to undergo bi-monthly chemotherapy.

Swayze is reportedly taking the measure after he was photographed smoking as he walked to his plane at a public airfield.

A source told Florida's Palm Beach Post: “He figures there’ll be no paparazzi at Moffett."

Officials said he been given special dispensation because he qualifies as a "life flight" when receiving treatment at nearby Stanford.

Swayze, 55, recently thanked his fans for their support following his diagnosis with the disease.