THE Guyana Defence Force’s Air Corps added two Britten-Norman Islanders to its fleet. The aircrafts arrived at Air Station London, Timehri late Wednesday afternoon to a water salute.
Commander of the GDF’s Air Corps, Lieutenant Colonel Courtney Byrne, explained to the Department of Public Information (DPI) that the planes will be able to effectively perform 10 out of the 13 Air Corps tasks.

Byrne said the aircraft is best suited for Guyana’s rough, mountainous terrain, high altitudes and short hinterland airstrips. “These aircrafts can perform these missions well. They are adapted for this kind of terrain.” Earlier this year, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon had sought supplementary provision of $484Million in the National Assembly to procure two Islanders and two Sky vans.

The Islanders that arrived on Wednesday were bought in Brazil and flown across the border by a team of GDF pilots. Major Mohinder Ramjag, Officer in Command at the Flight Operations Department, led the team that flew the planes to Guyana.

The GDF will now have the planes certified and registered by the Guyana Civil Aviation

Authority (GCAA). “We already have highly qualified pilots to fly these aircrafts and we have engineers who are also qualified to maintain these aircrafts,” Byrne said. Lieutenant Colonel Byrne assured that the refurbished planes can provide more than 30 years of service to the Air Corps. Chief of Staff of the GDF, Brigadier Patrick West, and other GDF officials were on hand to witness the arrival of the aircrafts. There will be an official handing over ceremony for the aircrafts today. (DPI)