Choppers on standby for GE14 — academy
KOTA KINABALU: Fourteen helicopters and two fixed wing aircraft from Layang Layang Aerospace will be available for the coming 14th General Election.
Layang Layang Helicopter Academy director Eric Lee said the assets, which are currently in the state, are ready and on standby.
However, he said no bookings have been made yet by any parties concerned.
“Tentatively, we have not received any bookings but we did receive quite a number of enquiries.
“We believe bookings will be made when the election is near,” he said.
Helicopters will be in demand during the coming general election due to the vast land area and difficult terrain in remote areas.
It will be used to send ballot boxes and officials to remote polling stations in the interior as well as to surrounding islands.
When asked if the 14 helicopters and two fixed wing aircraft are sufficient, Lee said additional aircraft will be brought in from Peninsular if needed.
“In the previous general election (GE13), 27 helicopters and two fixed wing aircraft were chartered.
“So we will see what happens. If needed we will bring in more from Peninsular,” he said.
Lee said this at the Graduation of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Cadets 2018 Batch 05/2016 at the Layang Layang Helicopter Academy in Tanjung Aru, here yesterday.
At the event, four MMEA officers completed their training in both academic and flying phase.
Their general flight test was conducted on Feb 21 for their commercial pilots license with instrument rating by the Civil Aviation Authority MalaysiaAuthorised Examiner.
Meanwhile, Lee said Layang Layang Helicopter Academy will move their training of both helicopter and fixed wing aircraft to Ipoh due to limited land for hangarage to accommodate the increase of training aircraft as part of the academy business expansion and also to cater for the public demand.