EASA to launch aviation training facility in Karachi

The maintenance training academy will provide UK aviation licences.

KARACHI: Edulearn Air Services Academy (EASA), in collaboration with Air Service Training (AST), Perth College, University of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland, will set up Pakistan’s first European Part 147 – a European Aviation Safety Agency regulation – maintenance training facility in Karachi. The facility will provide UK licences to meet the growing demands of aircraft maintenance engineers, technicians, pilots in local and international aviation industries, a press release said on Wednesday.

Introduced by UK Trade and Investment Pakistan, United Kingdom’s EASA will bring AST UK qualifications to Pakistan and provide technical training material, approved examinations and assistance to support the aviation industry in the country, it said.

“We are really delighted to offer this worldwide recognised qualification in Pakistan,” said EASA CEO Ibrahim Saghir. This qualification, Saghir said, will encourage Pakistani youth to join the aviation industry and reach the highest standards of academic and technical level. This will benefit not only the industry but also the overall education system in Pakistan, he added.

The press release further said the academy will introduce the aircraft maintenance engineering IR Part-66 B1/B2 licence examinations for the first time in Pakistan – this will be done in collaboration with AST Perth, a company approved by the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority under the European Part 147 regulations.

“The one key issue that has the potential to transform Pakistan’s future is education,” British Deputy High Commissioner Francis Campbell said. “The UK government is strongly committed in bringing that transformation in Pakistan,” he added.

Campbell, who is also the Director of UK Trade and Investment, Pakistan, further said that these ventures will not only contribute to the betterment of Pakistan’s future but strengthen the bilateral relation between the UK and Pakistan.”

The local office will also provide a chance to bright and talented students who cannot afford expensive trainings abroad, to receive international qualifications in Pakistan, the press release said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2012.