JEDDAH, 23 March 2006 -- Ethiopia, that has emerged as Africa's super aviation hub, hopes to attract trainees from this part of the world to its Multinational Aviation Training Center.

The center, which belongs to the country's national airline, has specialized in aviation training with schools focusing on flying and aviation maintenance, according to Muna Abebe, Ethiopian Airlines' new area manager for Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

The center's Pilot Training School (PTS) and Aircraft Maintenance Training School (AMTS) were commissioned in 1964 and 1967 respectively. "These schools have been extending their services to the nationals of over 52 countries," Abebe told Arab News in an interview yesterday. The PTS has so far trained 755 pilots, 293 of them non-Ethiopians from Africa and the Middle East and a few from Asia and Europe. The AMTS has trained 2,151 technicians, 699 of them from 47 countries mainly from the Middle East and Africa.

The syllabus of both schools are approved and accredited by Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, African Civil Aviation Commission, African Airline Association and International Civil Aviation Organization.

"The center utilizes the airline's maintenance facilities for on-the-job training and for undergoing a learning process within the premises of an aviation environment," he said, adding that it has produced pilots of high standard. Computerized flight training devices are used to simulate flight-training techniques. "Visitors to Addis Ababa and transit passengers are now treated to an even better Ethiopian welcome since the opening of the upgraded Bole International Airport two years ago," he said.

Ethiopian Airlines, which started in 1946 and began operating to Jeddah in 1972, currently has three weekly services to Addis Ababa plus a recently started cargo flight every Friday. With its modern fleet of Boeing aircraft, the airline operates to 43 destinations worldwide including 24 in Africa, eight each in Asia and Europe, and one in the United States.

"We're adding four more destinations to our network -- Dakar (Senegal) from March 26, Libreville (Gabon) from March 28, Juba (Sudan) from May 1 and Brussels from June 5," Abebe said, adding that 10 new Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" aircraft are expected to be delivered to the airline in 2008.

By K.S. Ramkumar

© Arab News 2006