Bangkok--14 Jul--Thai AirAsia
Thai AirAsia has made plans to produce more pilots in response to the growth of its industry; joining hands with Bangkok Aviation Center Plc (BAC) in a Memorandum of Understanding to produce Commercial Licensed Pilots at a targeted rate of 70 per year, in step with the airline's plan to expand and receive 5 new Airbus A320 airplanes each year; points out 181 Thai AirAsia pilots completed the BAC course, as many as 40% of the airline's 450 current pilots.
Mr. Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of Thai AirAsia, remarked that the aviation industry is growing at a rapid pace and the production of capable pilots to keep in step with the expansion has become a challenge. He noted however that Thai AirAsia has been fortunate to have a strong ally in Bangkok Aviation Center Plc (BAC), which has worked with the airline to produce new pilots. At present, 7 classes, or 181 Thai AirAsia pilots, completed the BAC course.
"Thai AirAsia (FD) currently has 450 pilots, comprising 206 captains and 244 first officers. Up to 40% of the airline's pilots are BAC graduates, making the company a main driver behind Thai AirAsia's success over the past 11 years. With today's Memorandum of Understanding signing, we aim to have BAC produce us 70-80 Commercial Licensed Pilots each year to keep up with our growth by 5 airplanes every year".
Thai AirAsia is now sponsoring a total 49 pilots-in-training in 2 classes at BAC and is the company's main client.
Capt. Piya Tregalnon, CEO of Bangkok Aviation Center, explained that BAC was Thailand's first private aviation school. Founded in 2002 with accreditation from the Ministry of Education and Civil Aviation Department of Thailand, the school is able to produce 180 pilots a year. BAC is fully equipped to train world standard pilots as its training practices, facilities and personnel are all maintained in collaboration with the Royal Thai Air force. The company presently holds the largest share of the pilot training market at approximately 80% and is expanding internationally, especially through the Asian region where it has met with strong acceptance and trust.
"This latest collaboration is an affirmation between Thai AirAsia and BAC to continue to supply the aviation industry with pilots. Apart from adhering to the curriculum and regulations of the Civil Aviation Department, BAC also invests in enhancing its course to meet the demands of Thai AirAsia, emphasizing trainees that have a wide range of experience and are effective pilots. BAC makes sure to produce graduates that are disciplined and feature all the valued traits of a pilot by having them visit a variety of airports and aeronautical radio towers, requiring submission of a Final Project and logging at least 20 hours in an Airbus A320 Type VI Flight Simulator before graduation. All together, these practices ensure that each pilot is fully ready for real world flight".
BAC produces pilots for several national level carriers, including Thai AirAsia, THAI Airways and Thai Smile. It has produced a total 815 pilots and is currently training 180. Its goal is to produce internationally accepted pilots in order to contribute to Thailand's trade balance as pilots on average generate 6 million THB in annual income per person. By creating Thai pilots for the world market (similar to how 50% of West European taxi drivers are from Turkey), even at only 10% of the market (which demands 460,000 new pilots by 2031) at 46,000 pilots, Thailand would see 270 billion THB in income with virtually no impact to its natural capital.