Gov’t to establish training centre for helicopter pilots

By Mohamed Attia   

The Egyptian Academy of Aviation Sciences, affiliated with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and the Petroleum Air Services Company, affiliated to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, signed a co-operation protocol to establish a training centre for helicopter pilots for the first time in Egypt and the Middle East. Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek el-Mulla attended the signing.

This centre is the first of its kind in Egypt and will lead to cost reduction, besides saving time and effort to prepare Egyptian candidates capable of joining the petroleum sector system through training new pilots of Petroleum Air Services in Egypt at the Egyptian Aviation Academy instead of sending them abroad.

It is aimed to save foreign reserves and add a new source of income from hard currency by enrolling students from different nationalities at the academy. The agreement was signed by Ehab Abdel Maksoud, chairman of Petroleum Air Services, and Ezzat Metwally, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Egyptian Aviation Academy.

The step came within the framework of the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s strategy to train new human resources and keep pace with the development of the civil aviation industry through qualifying fresh efficient cadres specialised in aviation sciences, in line with the requirements of the international labour market.

For his part, Minister of Civil Aviation Lieutenant General Mohamed Abbas praised the remarkable development witnessed by the Egyptian Academy of Aviation Sciences, especially in the field of training. He described the academy as a distinguished educational edifice that competes with all academies around the world specialized in various fields of aviation sciences. The academy is keen to achieve sustainable development and launch scientific programmes through adding new training activities and granting international licenses approved by the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority.

Chairman of the Egyptian Aviation Academy, Pilot Ezzat Metwally, confirmed that this centre is the first of its kind in Egypt for training and qualification in the field of vertical flight.