Muharraq, Bahrain: 16 February 2019:
The Gulf Aviation Academy (GAA) Board of Directors approved ambitious expansion plans for 2019 during a regular meeting chaired by His Excellency the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications and GAA Chairman, Eng. Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed. The plans include purchasing a fourth Airbus A320 Full Flight Simulator (FFS) and introducing new logistics and aviation training programmes that will enhance the academy’s capacity and efficiency, enabling it to meet the growing needs of this important sector.
The additional FFS will help to ease the burden on the academy’s existing simulators, which are currently operating at 100 per cent capacity in order to meet local and regional training requirements. In addition, a joint training agreement with the European Civil Aviation Authority will increase the number of aviation training programmes offered in 2019, covering aviation safety, airport security, air transport, and airspace control.
HE the Minister praised the academy’s executive management for their dedicated efforts to achieve Gulf Air Group Holding’s goals, noting that enhancing the efficiency of specialised training programmes related to logistics is an important step in the development of the civil aviation sector, and in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goal to increase non-oil revenues.
HE the Minister also praised the GAA for expanding its geographic reach, offering services from Bahrain to a client base extending from the Indian sub-continent to Europe.
He stressed the importance of helping GAA to achieve its objectives, which have direct and indirect effects on the Kingdom, highlighting the importance of partnerships with local bodies such as Gulf Air Group Holding and Tamkeen.
GAA Chief Executive Officer, Captain Dhafer Al-Abbasi said: “The 2019 expansion plans are in line with our strategic objectives to provide the best flight training services and modern training tools, not only in Bahrain but in the entire region. During 2018, GAA trained 6,522 agents consisting of pilots, crew, engineers, security personnel, and other aviation personnel, 92 per cent of whom were trainees from outside Bahrain. Last year, we trained 106 pilots from a European airline and will train a further 100 this year to support the development of its operations. The new addition to our range of simulator models will play a key role in helping us to meet the growing demand.”
