Ethiopian Aviation University to provide extensive training to African nationals in aviation

Addis Ababa, June 19, 2024 (FBC) – The Ethiopian Aviation University, part of the Ethiopian Airlines Group, has announced its efforts to provide extensive training in the aviation sector in the continent by signing agreements with African countries.

As one of the institutions under the Ethiopian Airlines Group, the university, formerly known as the Ethiopian Aviation Academy, has been restructured to university status. It is now focused on producing competent professionals in the aviation field.

According to Kassie Yimam, Acting President of the university, it provides training in aircraft piloting, air traffic control, aeronautical engineering, aircraft maintenance, as well as commercial and marketing sectors of aviation.

He explained that this has enabled the university to build capacity to train qualified professionals not just for Ethiopia but for the entire region.

Several African countries have been signing memorandums of understanding with the university to receive large-scale human resource training, Kassie stated. Previously, aviation professionals from various African nations used to come for training, but now agreements are being formalized at a country level.

Niger and Gabon were cited as examples of countries that have already signed such agreements, with the university in the process of pursuing similar deals with other African nations.

Developing a skilled aviation workforce is one of the key endeavors towards positioning Ethiopia as an aviation hub for Africa, Kassie noted, adding that extensive efforts are underway to realize this goal.

He also revealed that Ethiopian Airlines’ venture into aerospace manufacturing is gaining momentum, driven by the need to adopt new technologies like artificial intelligence to grow the aviation sector in Ethiopia and Africa.

From this perspective, the Ethiopian Aviation University has built the capacity to train a significant number of African nationals in addition to Ethiopians, Kassie elaborated.

It is worth noting that in this fiscal year, the university graduated 2,965 professionals across three rounds of training in fields such as aircraft piloting, maintenance, and other disciplines, as called by ENA.