Aviatour studes may have to transfer

CEBU, Philippines - The more than 100 students of Aviatour Air Inc., most of them foreigners, may have to continue their studies with other flying schools based in the Mactan Cebu International Airport.

Captain Antonio Jureidini, Aviatour’s flight safety director, told The FREEMAN that the suspension of their operations has not yet been lifted, prompting them to make arrangements with other flying schools.

Jureidini declined to name the schools in order not to preempt their ongoing negotiations.

According to Jureidini, the negotiation for such an arrangement has the approval of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines director general William Hotchkiss.

He admitted their students were really affected by the suspension of the flight school’s operations.

CAAP suspended the license of Aviatour Air Inc., the charter airline that owned the Piper Seneca that crashed off Masbate last month, killing Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo and pilots Jessup Bahinting and Kshitiz Chand.

Bahinting, also Aviatour chairman and CEO, was Robredo’s pilot when the accident happened. His Nepali co-pilot Chand and Robredo’s aide Senior Insp. Jun Abrasado were also with them during the crash but only Abrasado survived.

Apart from chartered flights Aviatour also trains professional pilots, sells aircraft and offers aircraft maintenance services.

Officials of Aviatours have asked for the lifting of the suspension of their flight school and chartered flight operations. (FREEMAN)