| | May 16th, 2006
| | | Moncton college to train Chinese pilots
| | | By Jesse Robichaud
Times & Transcript Staff
The Moncton Flight College (MFC) has been given the nod by the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) to begin training Chinese pilots in Canada.
Instructors at the college will train young aviators for the country's rapidly expanding airline industry. Contracts with Chinese airlines will double the number of students at the college over the first two years, with further growth planned beyond that.
After the flight college initially applied for approval last June, CAAC officials visited Metro Moncton for aw four-day final inspection.
Mike Doiron, principal and CEO of MFC, said the timing couldn't be better for the approval.
"There is a huge demand for pilots in Northeast Asia and existing training facilities couldn't handle the numbers of students needed to fill these positions."
"China alone needs to train 1,200 pilots a year," he continued.
Doiron said the college has recently added a new training centre and residence, with the support of ACOA and the province of New Brunswick, in order to compete for major training contracts on the international stage.
MFC is believed to be the only flight training school worldwide to have approvals from Transport Canada, the Joint Aviation Authority of Europe, and now the Civil Authority of China.
Ninety-nine pilots recently graduated from the Moncton Flight College, which has trained over 15,000 pilots from more than 60 countries since it was established in 1929.
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