Organization:Escadron de transport, d'entrainement et de calibration

The Escadron de transport, d'entraînement et de calibration 00.065 (ETEC 65, "Transportation, training and calibration squadron") is a unit of the French Air Force , under direct command of the Minister of Defence, in charge of the transportation of the President, the Prime Minister and other French government officials.

History

In July 1945, the GAEL (groupe aérien d'entraînement et de liaison) was created. It was first based at Le Bourget Airport, then relocated to the Villacoublay Air Base.

In 1969, the GAEL was split in two units, then in 1984 in three units.

In 1991, the three units were merged again into the l'ETEC 00.065 (escadron de transport, d'entraînement et de calibration), which was still called "GAEL".

In July 1995, the French president Jacques Chirac decided to dissolve the Groupe de Liaisons Aériennes Ministérielles (GLAM). The GLAM's aircraft were transferred to the ETEC.

Aircraft

The ETEC uses

1 Airbus A330-200, Registration: F-RARF^[1]
2 Falcon 7X
2 Falcon 900 (soon to be replaced),
2 Falcon 50 (soon to be replaced by 4 Falcon 2000LX ),
7 TBM 700,
3 Super Puma helicopters (VIP-configured).

In 2003, the ETEC provided 673 flight hours for the President, 516 for the Prime Minister, 602 for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and 318 for the Ministry of Defence. A flight hour typically costs:

€4050 for an Airbus,
€5750 for a Falcon 900 and
€4090 for a Falcon 50.

Flight are identified as "COTAM 0xy", with the callsign "COTAM 001" ("COTAM Unité") being reserved for the President and "COTAM 002" for foreign presidents.