Airbus supports pilot training for Vietnam

     The world leading aircraft manufacturer Airbus will grant a sum of 850,000 EUR to the Bay Viet (Vietnam Flight) Training Company to help train pilots for Vietnam.
An agreement regarding the project, jointly funded by Airbus’s parent firm - the Engineering Architectural and Design Services (EADS) - was signed on March 5.
France-based ESMA Aviation Academy will provide consultancy and technical assistance for the project.
Also on March 5, Bay Viet opened its first pilot pre-qualification training course in Ho Chi Minh City for 15 students. Excellent graduates will be selected for further professional training to work as lecturers at the school.
A pilot training centre will be established at the Vung Tau airport. The first pilot training course is scheduled to commence next June to meet growing demand for pilots in the country.
Every year, the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has to hire some 150 foreign pilots and send between 60-80 Vietnamese abroad for training. The country’s other airlines also have to employ most of their pilots from foreign nations.
Headquartered at the Tan Son Nhat Airport, the Bay Viet Training Company was set up by seven stakeholders, Vietnam Airlines, the Vietnam Aircraft Leasing Company, the Service Flight Corporation of Vietnam, the ESMA Aviation Academy, the HiPT Group, the Vietnam Aviation Academy and the Air and Air Defence Force of Vietnam.