The Government Flying Service has been progressively replacing its existing fleet of seven helicopters.

The new fleet helicopter, the H-175, has been put into service in phases since mid-2018, and is expected to be in full operation this year.

Introducing a new H-175 helicopter during a press conference today, Government Flying Service Controller Michael Chan said the existing seven aircraft are being phased out without compromising operations, adding that during the transition period, all pilots, engineers, air crewman officers and technicians will undergo upgraded training.

"We had the first three delivered to Hong Kong in mid-2018 and another batch of three was delivered to Hong Kong in December, 2018. The last one will be delivered to us in the latter part of this year, probably in the third quarter of 2019.

"The idea is to transition our entire crew from the current operational level onto the new aircraft at the same operational level."

Meanwhile, Hongkong Post will release for sale a set of special stamps themed "Government Flying Service - Operations" and associated philatelic products on February 28.

The special issue of six stamps and a stamp sheetlet depict the department's major operations to give the public a better understanding of the Government Flying Service and its fleet of aircraft.