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

French Air Force

The French Air Force , literally Army of the Air) is the air force of the French Armed Forces. It was formed in 1909 as the Service Aéronautique, a service arm of the French Army, then was made an independent military arm in 1933...

, under direct command of the Minister of Defence

Minister of Defence (France)

The Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs is the French government cabinet member charged with running the military of France....

, in charge of the transportation of the President, the Prime Minister

Prime Minister of France

The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...

 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

Paris – Le Bourget Airport

Paris – Le Bourget Airport is an airport located in Le Bourget, Bonneuil-en-France, and Dugny, north-northeast of Paris, France. It is now used only for general aviation as well as air shows...

, 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

Jacques Chirac

Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...

 decided to disslove the Groupe de Liaisons Aériennes Ministérielles (GLAM). The GLAM's aircraft were transferred to the ETEC.

Aircraft

The ETEC uses

• 1 Airbus A330-200 ,
• 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
  Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma
  The Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma is a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-size utility helicopter marketed for both civil and military use. Originally designed and built by Aérospatiale, it is an enlarged and re-engined version of the original Aérospatiale 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 001

Cotam Unité is the official air traffic control call sign of any french Air Force aircraft carrying the President of France In November 2010 the Governmental transport squadron received a newly refurbished Airbus A330 ordered by the government to be used as the presidential aircraft replacing 2...

" ("COTAM Unité

Cotam 001

Cotam Unité is the official air traffic control call sign of any french Air Force aircraft carrying the President of France In November 2010 the Governmental transport squadron received a newly refurbished Airbus A330 ordered by the government to be used as the presidential aircraft replacing 2...

") being reserved for the President and "COTAM 002" for foreign presidents.

See also

• List of air transports of Heads of State and Government