Government Flying Service
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1993 |
| Preceding agency |
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| Jurisdiction | Hong Kong |
| Headquarters | Hong Kong International Airport |
| Employees | 225 |
| Minister responsible | |
| Agency executive |
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| Website | www |
| Government Flying Service | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 政府飛行服務隊 | ||||||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 政府飞行服务队 | ||||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Zhèngfǔ Fēixíng Fúwù Duì |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Yale Romanization | Jing fú fēi hàahng fuhk mouh deuih |
| Jyutping | Zing3 fu2 fei1 haang4 fuk6 mou6 deoi6 |
The Government Flying Service (GFS) is a disciplined unit of the Government of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 April 1993, when Hong Kong was under British rule. It then took over all the non-military operations of the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force (RHKAAF), which was an auxiliary unit of the United Kingdom Royal Air Force. After Hong Kong was handed over to the People's Republic of China in 1997, the GFS remains as a government unit of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and is responsible for search and rescue (SAR), air ambulance, firefighting and police operations.
The service operates from the southwestern end of Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok. Before the opening of the Chek Lap Kok airport in 1998, it operated from the old Kai Tak Airport (i.e. the former Hong Kong International Airport). GFS patrols a 400-nautical-mile (740 km) radius of Hong Kong's Maritime Search and Rescue Region, as well as the Hong Kong Flight Information Region (FIR), which covers most of the South China Sea basin.
In 2007, the former dispersal in the old Kai Tak Airport was re-opened as a sub-base, providing refuelling and other supporting services for GFS's helicopters. The helipad is located near the foot of Cheung Yip Street.
GFS is broken down to operational sections:
Helicopters can land on 5 highways in Hong Kong to attend to road related recovery operations. For long-range search and rescue operations, the GFS initially uses fixed wing aircraft which then guides helicopters to the location.
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