Air Transport

Bangkok Airways is establishing a pilot training school, the Bangkok Flight Academy, in partnership with US firm Flight Training Services.

A Bangkok Airways spokesman says the Bangkok Flight Academy will be based at Sukhothai Airport. Sukhothai is the country’s former capital in northern Thailand and the airline already manages the airport there.

The spokesman says the flying school will open in December and will train commercial pilots for Bangkok Airways and other airlines.

He was unable to say what aircraft the school will have but Bangkok Airways says in a statement that the school, which is a joint venture with Flight Training Services, will have a fleet of 25 single-engine aircraft and two jet aircraft.

It says the school will have capacity to train 400 students and the first intake will be 20 students.

“The 12 to 14 month programme will be based on the CAPT Program which includes an emphasis on crew concepts, journaling, pre and post flight briefings, the use of cockpit cameras and scenario based training,” it says.

This programme will also have an intensive aviation English course, it adds.

Bangkok Airways’ president, Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth, says in the statement the school will train pilots for the world market and he is establishing it to help tackle the world shortage of pilots.

CAPT is an intensive ab initio pilot training programme developed by the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, USA.

In August 2006 US firm Flight Training Services acquired the programme and related facilities from the university.

Today the US programme trains using Cirrus SR20-G2 single-engine aircraft, Piper PA-44 Seminole twin-engine aircraft and an advanced Boeing Level D full-flight simulator, Flight Training Services says in a statement on its own website.

Bangkok Airways operates ATR 72s, Airbus A320-family aircraft and Boeing 717s. It also has Airbus A350s on order.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news