A six-member team from the People’s Republic of China is here to train Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Air Corps pilots and engineers to operate the Y-12 aircraft—the first such programme conducted by the Chinese air force outside of China.
The China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC) Y-12 Conversion Training Pro-gramme was declared open yesterday by army Chief of Staff Commodore Gary Best at GDF Air Corps Hangar, at Timehri, and he said it has come at great expense to the rest of the GDF because all of the grant aid given to military has been converted to enhance the air corps. “…we place a high premium to the importance and effectiveness of air transport in GDF and with our location air transportation is extremely important to GDF,” Best said at the opening.
The Y-12 aircraft was purchased from CATIC in 2001 and after the