The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has supported the Vietnam Flight Training JSC's (VFT) proposal to build a pilot training centre at Rach Gia Airport.

According to the CAAV, the aviation industry is booming with 171 commercial planes. It is expected that the fleet will expand to 250 planes in the 2020-2030 period. As a result, Vietnam will need 200 pilots by 2030. However, since Vietnam doesn't have a pilot training centre, most of the pilots have been trained overseas at high costs.

The CAAV said a pilot training centre was important for the aviation industry at the moment.

The VFT is the only approved training facility in Vietnam. They are still opening basic courses for 100 new pilots each year but it was not enough to meet the industry's requirements.

After gathering opinions from the Air Force, the CAAV has backed the VFT's proposal to build a pilot training centre at Rach Gia Airport as there is enough land, favourable weather, and low levels of military activity. Moreover, the distance from Rach Gia Airport to other airports and locations in Phu Quoc, HCM City and Con Dao Island is suitable for a practice programme.

From 2010 to 2012, a pilot training centre was set up at Cam Ranh Airport for 20 pilots. However, due to weak infrastructure, the centre did not meet requirements and was shut down.

Lao Dong/Dtinews