Biodun Akomolafe
Ethiopian Aviation Academy has been certified as International CIvil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Regional Training Center.
The recognition was conferred on African largest and most modern aviation academy on May 11, 2016 at the ICAO’s Global Aviation Training and TRAINAIR PLUS symposium held at Conrad hotel in Seoul, Korea.
The Academy is said to have attained the recognition following a rigorous assessment of the Training organization, Training & Procedures Manuals, Facilities, Training Processes, Qualification of Staff and Quality System. The recognition allows Ethiopian to develop and host ICAO Training Packages (ITPs) in addition to ICAO recognized Standardized Training Packages (STPs) of its own.
Moreover, besides improving the quality of training, by making it more of material dependent than instructor dependent, the ITPs and STPs can also be exchanged with all ICAO TRAINAIR PLUS members and generate revenue.
Speaking on the recognition, Group Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde GebreMariam said, “We believe education is the greatest equalizer in the 21st century and our Aviation Academy has strategically positioned itself to train the African youth in the latest Aviation technology and latest aviation skills to own, manage and operate their own indigenous home grown African Airlines to lead safe, economical and reliable aviation industry with global standards. This recognition is the result of the continuous heavy investment we are making on human resource development, a critical pillar of our Vision 2025 strategy. We have invested more than 100 million dollars to expand both the scope of the training and the in-take capacity of the Academy. Today, our Academy admits over 1,500 students per year to train pilots, aircraft technicians, cabin crew, marketing and finance personnel, customer service agents as well as aviation leaders. Going forward, we plan to increase this in-take capacity to 4,000 by 2025, so as to cater for the growing training need in the continent.”
Ethiopian Aviation Academy (EAA) has recently been awarded “Airline Service Provider of the Year” award by the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) for its excellence in service delivery, innovation and competitiveness in best service providers to the African aviation industry The academy is also a full member of ICAO TRAINAIR PLUS since May 20, 2015.
