Govt. buys a helicopter for heads of state and cabinet members

Govt. buys a helicopter for heads of state and cabinet members
Published 22 February 2020
Nay Yine & Zeya Tun

The government is bought a helicopter worth Euro 13.272 million from Leonardo Company from Italy for heads of state and cabinet members and it will be arrived in Myanmar in April, sources said.

At the present, the heads of state and cabinet members are using military helicopters and rented helicopters from some private owned airlines in some occasions, said Zaw Htay, Spokesperson of President Office.

The AgustaWestland AW139 is a 15-seat medium-sized twin engines helicopter and officials from Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement went to the company to check the helicopter.

“The kind of helicopter is using in Italy and UAE navies. It is intended to use especially for the ministry to deal with emergency cases. It was approved by the parliament,” said Zaw Htay.

The helicopter will be flown from Italy to Malaysia, where its services company is located, before flying to Myanmar.

“We expected it will be arrived here in last week of April and it means the government will be less use of military helicopters,” he said.

The government can only afford to buy a helicopter due to tight budget, he added.