MAIN STORYA British-Singaporean-Hong Kongjoint venture plans to becomethe Asia-Pacific’s largest trainingorganization in the next few years,graduating hundreds of pilots readyto step straight into the cockpitsof modern commercial jets. TOMBALLANTYNE spoke to one ofthe group’s principals, U.K.-basedMark Pearson.Nine new trainingcentres ‘will notscratch the surface’Mark Pearson, chairmanand chief executiveof UK-based International Av iat ionGroup (IAG), partof a new joint venture that plans at leastnine aviation training centres across Asiain the next two to three years, says thisinvestment will not get close to solving theacute shortage of professionals, particularlypilots, the region faces. At least, that is, notin the short to medium-term.“We are not even going to be scratchingthe surface,” Pearson told <strong>Orient</strong> <strong>Aviation</strong>.The reason is simple. Pearson did astudy some time ago that showed, out of atotal global requirement of 36,000 new pilotsevery year for the next 20 years, Asia alonerequired a minimum of 6,000 annually.IAG is providing the training know-howfor the new Alpha <strong>Aviation</strong> Group (AAG).It is backed by Hong Kong’s International<strong>Aviation</strong> Group and Singapore’s PrescientSystems & Technologies, an associatedcompany of Singapore TechnologiesEngineering Limited, with British venturecapitalists providing financial backing.Their first Asian training centre, detailsof which have been kept under wraps untilnow, is in the Philippines, at the former U.S.Clark air base, now an international airportand special economic zone (SEZ).The Clark Institute of <strong>Aviation</strong> willopen in July with a throughput of 218 pilotsannually. That will double in the second year.While it expands, work will be racing aheadto open three centres in India, three in Chinaand two in the Middle East.According to Pearson, new trainingcentres will be opening at an average rateof one every six months. Combined projectcosts are estimated to be in excess of US$320million and the funding will be secured by acombination of equity and debt financing.Even before it has opened its doors, Indianairlines have snapped up 60% of Clark’sinitial training capacity.“There is interest in countries such asIndonesia, Vietnam and other key areas. Theproblem is widespread, but our initial focusneeds to be India and China because they aresuffering most of all,” said Pearson.“Even if we open 10 training centres andwe have the capacity to do that tomorrow,our maximum capacity is still only going tobe 2,000 pilots. The Chinese Government‘ This is a dummy breakout.This is a dummy breakout.’Someone SomeoneSome Title Some Titlehave stressed they alone need another 12,000pilots in the next four years. At the momenttheir capacity is only 850 pilots a year in theirexisting training resources,” said Pearson.“India requires 4,000 pilots just to meetthe aircraft orders over the next four years.And it is not only pilots. While our primaryfocus is on pilot training, the intention is totrain aviation personnel across the board,including engineers, cabin crew, flightdispatchers and air traffic controllers. TakeIndia for example, 4,000 pilots means theyneed 11,000 cabin crew.”The problem has become so acute becauseany previous pool of licensed pilots with typeratings has already disappeared. “The onlysolution you have got is to take people fromthe street and train them up as commercialpilots,” said Pearson.Like many other training firms, Alphais focusing its training around the newMulti-Crew Pilot Licence (MCPL). Unlikethe normal ATPL, or <strong>Air</strong> Transport PilotLicence, which takes students through toturboprop operations, the MCPL producesgraduates already rated for commercial jetairline cockpits.“It’s the shortest possible time in whichto bring pilots into the market with therelevant training and at the right standard,”said Pearson.Even then, the course takes a year. “It’snot a total solution,” he said. “The problemis going to be in the dilution of experience.The airlines require pilots immediately.Unfortunately, we don’t have that solution.The best solution we can offer is going totake 12 months to start happening,” saidPearson.“A lot of airlines tell me they want pilotstomorrow. I can’t give them pilots tomorrow,but unless they make the decision todaythey are going to be facing exactly the sameproblem 12 months from today, and it is goingto be even more critical.”Clark was selected as the first trainingcentre because it offered many advantages.“It gave us the best opportunity to build thelowest cost base training in the region. It isstrategically located, easily reached from allparts of Asia,” said Pearson.“The Philippines has an abundance ofhighly literate English-speaking peoplethat we can train. There is a very low-costbase and tax concession at the Clark SpecialEconomic Zone. That means we can providevery high quality training at incredibly lowcost.”AAG already has people on the groundin India and China, conducting feasibilitystudies and narrowing down potentialtraining locations.26 ORIENT AVIATION MAY 2006
GA landmarkwill help Chinapilot shortageAccording to statistics from the Civil<strong>Aviation</strong> Administration of China(CAAC), at the end of last year therewere little more than 600 general aviationaircraft in China, flying some 80,000 hoursa year between them.In stark contrast, the U.S. Federal<strong>Aviation</strong> Administration (FAA) reportedthe country has more than 220,000 smallaircraft, carrying 133 million passengersannually and serving some 19,000 airports.There is another glaring difference. Inthe U.S. around 70% of all GA flights arebusiness related. In China, 70% of flights arerelated to agriculture or the offshore drillingand mineral exploration industries. It meansthat however many pilots there are flyinglight aircraft in China, few have experiencein passenger operations.Beijing, realising the development ofGA is a critical part of the ultimate solutionto commercial airline pilot shortages. It ismaking the general aviation sector a priorityin its 11th Five-Year Plan, running from thisyear to 2010. It wants the sector to grow byat least 10% annually and expand its reachinto passenger operations.Howeve r, GA operator s a re alsosuffering pilot shortages. One member ofthe country’s Society of Aeronautics andAstronautics, Yang Jie, was quoted in thelocal media recently as saying there is ashortfall of about 1,000 pilots for smallaircraft operations.Another difficulty is in China there areofficially only 57 airports available forGA operations, compared to 126 used forscheduled flights.Until recently in China, GA operationsalso had to receive flight approval fromthe authorities, a process that could takeup to two weeks. The government has nowstreamlined the procedure and clearance canbe received within a day.With government backing for rapid GAgrowth, the CAAC believes there could be10,000 general aviation aircraft in Chinaby 2020, not only fuelling economicdevelopment, but finally helping to providea big flow of cockpit crew to commercialairline operators.MAY 2006 ORIENT AVIATION 27
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