Lufthansa Flight Training (LFT) has decided against establishing an ab initio commercial pilot training school in China primarily because one of its potential airline partners withdrew from the deal.
In 2005, LFT signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China Aviation Supplies Import & Export (CASC), Pegasus International Resources, Hainan Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines to establish an an initio school in China in 2007 but a spokesman for LFT in Frankfurt confirms that the deal has been scrapped.
After the MoU was signed one of the airline partners underwent an ownership change and that airline’s incoming chief executive (CEO) decided the airline would no longer participate, says the spokesman, who declines to publicly disclose which of the two airlines withdrew.
“The new CEO was not so into the flight training topic so things came to a halt,” says the spokesman, adding that LFT then decided the “risks were too high” to establish the school without the support of both airlines.
He says, even though the ab initio school is no longer going ahead, LFT is considering offering ab initio training to Chinese airlines using LFT training schools in Europe.
This would mean LFT would have to apply to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to have the relevant schools accredited under China civil aviation regulation (CCAR) 141.
Training schools in China and overseas that want to train commercial pilots for the China market need to have CCAR 141.
“We are thinking about doing this and looking at operations to be confirmed by CCAR 141,” says the spokesman.
No final decision has been made on whether to apply for CCAR 141 but it will be “a topic of discussion over the next 12 months”, adds the spokesman.
LFT’s centres in Europe already provide simulator training to Chinese pilots.
China currently has a massive shortage of commercial pilots and the problem has reached the point where some airlines have delayed taking delivery of aircraft because there is too few pilots.
The CAAC’s flight standards department has earlier forecast that the country will need 12,000 additional pilots from the end of 2004 to 2010.
But the country only has two ab initio schools, one that currently has 500 students and another that normally produces 850-900 pilots per year.
Hainan Airlines Group was also looking to get involved in ab initio training by buying a stake in Harbin-based general aviation company Flying Dragon which is currently trying to get CCAR 141 for its new ab initio training course.
But a Flying Dragon spokeswoman told Flight yesterday that Hainan Airlines will no longer be buying into Flying Dragon.
Shenzhen Airlines, meanwhile, has sought to overcome its pilot shortage by recruiting pilots from overseas countries such as Brazil.
Source: Flight Daily News
