Kenya Airways Boeing B777-200ER plane at their maintenance hangar in Nairobi. Aircraft Leasing Services (ALS) and Kenya School of Flying have partnered to establish a flying school, hoping to benefit from growing demand for pilots.
Aircraft Leasing Services (ALS) and Kenya School of Flying have partnered to establish a flying school, hoping to benefit from growing demand for pilots.
The school dubbed Orly Aeronautical University will be situated in Nairobi and will tap the expertise of Britain’s Falcon Flight Training Academy to enable issuance of both Kenyan and European pilot licences.
Kenya Airways (KQ), for instance, needs to recruit an additional 100 pilots to join its current 377 pilots, but this won’t come easy with rival airlines also having similar pressing needs amid a talent shortage.
This has forced KQ to start recruiting 60 expatriate pilots, as a lack of experienced pilots especially for long haul trips comes out as the biggest threat to its ongoing expansion plans.
“Our flying school will supply the region and will also admit students from overseas given that we will be able to issue international European licences,” said Aslam Khan, the ALS chairman and also a former KQ pilot.
2,000 pilots
KQ currently trains its pilots in South Africa. This is an expensive venture given that even locally-recruited pilots require refresher courses abroad to build up flight hours and experience— a major determinant when flying commercial airlines.
Kenya alone needs to train at least 2,000 pilots in the next five years to keep up with increasing activities in the booming industry, according to data from Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA). Training a single pilot is estimated to cost average Sh6 million.
KCAA numbers show that aircraft movements increased from 195,000 in 2008 to 335,000 in 2010/2011 representing a 72 per cent increase. The number of aircraft in the country increased from 757 to 1,056 , underpinning the need for specialised pilots and engineers.
“Africa will require about 20,000 pilots in the next 10 years and even currently demand outstrips supply igniting a fierce war for talent in the industry,” Mr Khan added.
ALS currently trains personnel specifically for their business at the Wilson Airport while Kenya School of Flying gives certification for pilots in the region.
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