Han Ximin

SHENZHEN Airlines opened an in-house flight training academy yesterday, making it the first airline to solely operate such an academy.

Shenzhen Kunpeng International Flight Academy was opened to tackle a possible pilot shortage as Shenzhen Airlines plans to buy more aircraft and open more routes soon.

The academy will train Chinese pilots and recruit foreign ones.

“We now have eight foreign pilot coaches from the United States, Japan, Singapore and France working for our academy’s training base in Wuzhou airport, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and the number is expected to reach around 18, half of the total staff,” said Zhu Nan, head of the academy, at the opening ceremony yesterday.

“We need more foreign pilots and coaches because the trainees have to pass the courses which are mainly in English and Chinese pilots need to improve their skills through technical exchanges with foreign counterparts,” said Li Kun, president of Shenzhen Airlines.

The academy has enrolled 200 recent university graduates for its 18-month pilot training courses. After graduation, the pilots can choose which airline to work for.

The pilots do not have to pay any money during the course. After they are employed, they will have to pay back tuition fees amounting to 600,000 yuan (US$79,947) in installments.

“So far, there are nearly 70 foreign pilots working for Shenzhen Airlines, and the number is expected to reach 100 as some are waiting for licenses from the General Administration of Civil Aviation,” said Li. “Most of the captains are from Brazil, the United States, Italy, Russia and Norway and the number of foreign captains will reach one-fifth of the total captains working for our airline.”

Shenzhen Airlines began to employ foreign pilots in May 2004.

China’s aviation industry is growing fast. Industry experts have warned of a shortage of pilots as China will need up to 1,600 new pilots every year.