SriLankan to cater to new aviation job potentials
SriLankan Aviation College, the national carrier’s training arm, is hoping to attract an increased number of students catering to the large number of vacancies in South Asia and West Asia.
With plans to expand its reach with a facility in Hambantota, branches and introducing degree level programmes, the Aviation College is looking at the growing opportunities in the West Asian job market and the over 200,000 technicians and mechanics required in this field in the region, the College General Manager Primal De Silva said at a media briefing in Colombo on Monday. He was speaking to journalists to announce the IATA Global Training Partner Conference 2017 scheduled to take place on May 15-17 at the Cinnamon Grand.
He noted that with the West Asian market growing in terms of airlines and airports it was creating space for more jobs and there was intense competition since most of those being picked up are from India, Maldives, Bangladesh but not so many from Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka does not have sufficient expertise to work in West Asia, Mr. De Silva explained. In this regard, the College is talking to regional carriers to obtain on-the-job training opportunities for Sri Lankans passing out of the institution. With a student force of 600, there are 300 in engineering and 126 foreign students from countries like Maldives, Oman, Bangladesh and India.
The College, an Authorised Training Centre for IATA, provides apprenticeship training that lead to obtaining the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification, a two year programme. Other programmes offered are the EASA part 147 approval for Aircraft Maintenance Training Organisations specializing in category A1, B1.1 (mechanical) and B2 (avionics) engineering. In addition the College has programmes from Introductory level IATA Diplomas for Cargo Cabin Crew, Travel and Tourism, SriLankan Airlines training programmes for Airport Passenger Handling, Dangerous Goods Regulation, Flight Dispatchers and all potential functional training areas of an airline.
It will be affiliating with three foreign universities to provide degree programmes from next year in aircraft maintenance and aviation management, Mr. De Silva said.
In addition, it was pointed out that the College would be opening up a Colombo branch on Duplication Road while two more are planned in two provinces. The Aviation College is eyeing to expand to Jaffna, Galle, Kandy and an unspecified location in the East.
Moreover, with plans of establishing a Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the Mattala Rajapakse International Airport (MRIA) the College will in future construct a training centre in order to cater to the growing demand.
Mr. De Silva explained that currently they were providing upto Rs.6 million worth of scholarships at the training centre for any of the programmes that are followed.
The college has a 737-200 aircraft purchased in collaboration with the Airport and Aviation Services Ltd. (AASL) for training purposes and in future will be purchasing a Cessna for approximately US$100,000. Mr. De Silva explained that it was not worthwhile going to Hambantota now but pointed out that there would be potential if the airport functions.
The Aviation College will play host to the IATA conference later this month with the participation of 150 delegates from 50 countries who would also be touring the country with visits to Kandy, Pinnawala and Dambulla.