25 Aug
2010
Air Astana, the national
air carrier of Kazakhstan,
and Pilot Training College
have agreed to extend the existing contract to undertake initial pilot training
program (Ab-initio). Pilot Training
College (PTC), one of Europe’s leading
pilot training providers, with bases in Waterford,
Ireland and Florida, USA,
will train up to 60 new cadets annually for Air Astana.
This agreement is another major step
for Civil Aviation in Kazakhstan,
allowing it to increase the pool of local pilots that were previously in short
supply. It also ensures that Air Astana will be able to meet the demand for
extra aircrew as the fleet grows to 50 aircraft by 2022. According to forecasts,
Air Astana will need to hire 300 qualified pilots by 2012, and each year the
need for flight personnel will continue to grow dramatically. As a result, Air Astana has initiated one of the
largest airline pilot training projects in the CIS.
Candidate selection is open to all Kazakh citizens age 18 to 29,
who are interested in becoming a pilot. Candidates need to demonstrate to
a good knowledge of physics &
mathematics, as well as
an excellent health record.
The first group of eight cadets recently graduated from
PTC and have taken up positions as co-pilots undertaking line training at Air
Astana. There are currently 30 cadets at the PTC in Florida, including a female
cadet - Polina Pavlova.
“I’ve spent
more than twenty years in the airline industry, with safety and the quality
pilot training being my highest priorities throughout that time,” said Peter Foster, President of Air Astana. “We’ve put
PTC through an extraordinarily rigorous examination, looking at every aspect of
the training the cadets receive. We are building a world-class airline at Air
Astana and we want world-class pilots to match. That’s what PTC delivers and
that’s why we are delighted to extend our contract with them.”
Mike Edgeworth, Executive Chairman of PTC comments of who held “This is another
milestone in our aim of becoming one of the leading global providers of airline
pilots. Airline partners like Air Astana are choosing PTC for a host of
reasons, including state of the art training facilities, access to a fleet of
over 40 modern aircraft and the very latest in avionics. Experienced
instructors are focused on delivering training excellence to international
airline standards, with our philosophy centred on training our students to be
‘airline’ ready through focus, professionalism and attention to detail.”
Another advantage of the Pilot Training College is the location of its training centres. PTC
Waterford gives trainee pilots ‘four seasons in one day’ and is perfect for
instrument training, whilst the Florida Training Centre gives PTC students the
broadest flying education possible with over 300 days of near perfect visual
flight rules conditions.
Together
with the new contract, Air Astana also announced that PTC has been chosen to
manage all future assessment and selection of new ab-initio cadets on the
airline’s behalf.