China donates 2nd aircraft to Tonga

The Chinese government on Wednesday donated a China-made aircraft to Tonga, injecting new vitality into the friendship and aviation cooperation between the two distant friendly countries.

The latest aircraft, a 17-seater Y-12, is expected to join a 52- seater MA-60 which was donated by China in July last year in serving Tongans and boosting the South Pacific island country's air transportation and tourism industry.

Huang Huaguang, Chinese ambassador to Tonga, presented a crystal key symbolizing the Y-12 to King Tupou VI on Wednesday. On the handover ceremony, Samiu Kuita Vaipulu, Tonga's deputy prime minister, expressed the Tongan government's appreciation and gratitude for this gift from the Chinese government, saying the new aircraft will be put into immediate operation in a bid to boost Tonga's domestic air transportation service.

"As Tonga's trustworthy friend and important partner, the Chinese government will fully support the goal set by the Tongan government to develop the civil aviation and tourism and the Chinese government is ready to provide continuous assistance to further enhance the self-development capacity of Tonga in the area of civil aviation and tourism," Huang Huaguang said.

"China highly values the cooperation with Tonga and cherishes the friendship between our two countries. In recent years, the mutual cooperation has been greatly deepened and expanded. I am full of confidence that more fruitful results will be generated for the friendship between China and Tonga, with the kind support of Your Majesty (King Tupou VI) and the joint efforts of our two governments," the ambassador added.

A smiling King Tupou VI, accompanied by Huang Huaguang and Zhang Guangjian, executive vice-president of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) International Holding Corp., experienced the new aircraft's maiden flight in his kingdom.

Having visited Tonga many times, Zhang Guangjian witnessed the handover ceremony of the MA-60 on July 6, 2013 as well as the first anniversary celebrations of the MA-60's safe operation. King Tupou VI was on board when the MA-60 performed its maiden flight in Tonga, too.

The MA-60, peremptorily labeled "unsafe" and hysterically bombarded by a number of New Zealand and United States media outlets, has been doing fine in Tonga.

According to Zhang, the China-made 52-seat turboprop-powered airliner has safely operated for over 700 flight hours and has shuttled more than 18,000 passengers within Tonga.

"The Y-12 will attend the fleet to meet the requirement of increasing demand of the country...will cooperate with the MA-60 to contribute to Tonga's people, tourism and even to the transportation of (the entire) South Pacific," said Zhang.

A light general-purpose aircraft, Y-12 features short take-off and landing distance, lower operating cost and sound performance in high temperature and highland environment.

Y-12 is widely used in the world for its safety and adaptability, said a spokesperson for the AVIC International Holding Corp., adding that in the Pacific islands region, Tonga is the fourth nation to introduce the aircraft, the other three being Fiji, Vanuatu and Kiribati.