BAE Systems yesterday unveiled a major joint venture in the Gulf: it will team with Qatar Aeronautical College (QAC) on creating an aviation training centre in the emirate.
Meanwhile, the company announced it was at an advanced stage with Abu Dhabi-based maintenance company Gamco on a repair centre in the UAE for Hawk trainers and light attack aircraft.
The Qatari project will bring in the US-based Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to provide bachelor degree courses in vocational and academic training in a variety of aviation-related disciplines.
Forecast
At present, QAC has an average annual throughput of 350 students. Ali Al Malki, QAC director general, said at the show yesterday there was a "conservative forecast" that this would expand to an average 1,000 students a year.
An indication of the extent to which the new centre will be a regional magnet for aviation students can be seen in a statistic mentioned by Al Malki: "At present, about 20-25% of our students come from outside Qatar. This will grow in future to more than 70%."
The rapidly-growing Qatar Airways is one potential destination for some of the new graduates and Akbar Al Baker, the airline's chief executive, was on the top table at the announcement.
Solution
Asked whether the difficulties that Middle East students have experienced in taking pilot training courses in the US post-11 September 2001 had driven the decision to set up the college, Al Malki says that planning for the new venture started long before those events. However, it was a factor.
The repair centre, initially announced at the IDEX defence exhibition in Abu Dhabi last March, will provide deep-level maintenance for aircraft and components. Operations are expected to start before the end of 2004.
Gamco general manager Saif Al Mughairy says it is hoped the facility will be located at Abu Dhabi International Airport but that an interim solution may be to set up the facility at a military base while facilities are being prepared.
Source: Flight Daily News
