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Sharjah-based Flight School Sees Profit in Regional Airline Growth

DUBAI - The Middle East civil aviation sector, which has bucked the current global slump, will require more than 12,000 pilots over the next 20 years to fly the region’s rapidly-expanding airline fleets, an aviation industry 
expert says.

The region, home to some of the world’s fastest-growing full-service and budget carriers, awaits the delivery of more than 1,580 aircraft valued at $260 billion over the next 20 years, thanks to a spate of recent orders and the emergence of new airlines, according to Boeing Company’s 
market outlook.

“With an average of eight pilots required for every aircraft, the region will be needing more than 12,400 people trained to fly sophisticated commercial jets,” said Mustafa Ali, General Manager of Alpha Aviation Academy, a new pilot training school in Sharjah.

“The Gulf region has emerged as a hub for air travel, and we feel the region would benefit greatly from the experience that we can bring to the table. The aviation sector is rapidly increasing, and the Alpha Aviation Academy, or AAA, will help facilitate this growth from within, through extending our global expertise to this region and effectively serving the needs of this sector,” Ali said. He denied reports that a slowdown in air traffic has led to a surplus of pilots in the region.

However, the chief pilot of the region’s largest budget carrier takes a different view.

“Right now the market is flooded with type-rated pilots, which is great for us,” said Air Arabia’s Chief Pilot Captain Maamoun Albakry, referring to pilots trained to fly a specific model of aircraft.

Still, this surplus hasn’t led to lower salaries. “We still gave pilots a pay increase this year, and awarded them a bonus. So we’re not scrimping on our pay,” Albakry said.

The International Air Transport Association, or IATA, in its latest forecast said the Middle East, driven by the Gulf sector, was one region where air traffic demand was expected to grow at 1.2 per cent. But airlines there are still likely to generate a $900 million combined loss because capacity increases of 3.8 per cent are outpacing passenger volumes. Worldwide, IATA expects carriers to lose $4.7 billion this year as a result of a sharp 12 per cent fall or $62 billion 
in revenue.

In March, a report by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, or CAPA, pointed out Middle East airlines would be taking delivery of 21 per cent of the world’s wide-body aircraft in 2009 and 13 per cent of the total in 2010.

AAA, part of the Alpha Aviation Group’s global network of international academies, received clearance from the General Civil Aviation Authority of the UAE for the commencement of classes from February 2009.

It offers specialised training for pilots, cabin crew and other aviation 
personnel. Ali claimed AAA’s training programme for airline pilots under the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s Multi-crew Pilot Licence, or MPL, was the most advanced training program in the world. The 18-month course costs ca cadet $120,000.

“AAA is the first such training facility in the region. There are at present no similar programmes within the Middle East that cater to new comers. We take applicants with no prior flying experience through a rigorous training programme, to mould them as professional jet airline pilots in approximately 14 months,” said Ali, a veteran pilot who also has been an instructor with a Dubai-based flying school.

Unlike other aviation courses that provide training on small single-engine airplanes that enable one to get a Commercial Pilot Licence, MPL offers relevant hands-on training through its use of advanced simulators and jet training in a specialised airline environment, Ali claimed. “The MPL course is the first of its kind which allows individuals to enter the aviation field with a solid career path ahead of them and also offers mid-level professionals from other fields, the opportunity for a career change. Once a cadet graduates from our MPL program, they are fully competent and qualified to join an airline with no further training.” The MPL course offers 50 hours of flying in small aircraft, 170 hours training in simulators and 40 sectors of lien training on a commercial airline. AAA has a tie up with Air Arabia for line training pilot trainees.

“All training programmes that are on offer at the AAA are supplemented through the latest in-classroom technology, devised by Oxford Aviation Academy in the UK,” he said.

Ali said the academy had been in the planning stage for a long time.

“We are proud to be the first in the Middle East to provide MPL training. We are passionate about creating a network of global training centres.”

Alpha Aviation Group, which acquired Gatwick-based Bond Aviation in October 2006, intends to transform it into its European International Aviation Academy. And in an attempt to combat the acute and growing worldwide shortage of pilots, is creating a network of 10 international aviation academies that span the globe from Europe through the Middle East to South East Asia, Ali said.

issacjohn@khalejtimes.com