Europeans train at Phl Academy for Aviation

Because of the economic doldrums in Europe, five men in their early 20s from Portugal and Norway are now training as pilots in the Clark-based facility of the Philippine Academy for Aviation Training (PAAT).

The five Europeans learned about PAAT after one of them, Joao Dias, 24, went to Indonesia early this year in search for a training facility in handling big-bodied Airbus planes. Since they only had training in Cessna planes, he had to look even harder for one such facility to accommodate him. He was informed that there was such a new Airbus-supported facility in the Philippines so he immediately flew in and looked into PAAT.

But they had to have their visas changed from tourist to student and their licenses converted. Then, should they pass the PAAT skills training course, get a working visa as they have already been interviewed for possible acceptance at Cebu Pacific, according to their trainer, (ret) Capt. Angelito Cristobal, ground instructor at PAAT.

The five are part of the 11 trainees currently doing their Airbus type-rating at PAAT. This new facility is jointly owned by CebuPac and CAE of Canada, the leading manufacturer of flight simulators and with the biggest network of pilot training centers worldwide. PAAT is the CAE training center in the Philippines. It is the only training center in the Philippines whose instructors have been standardized by Airbus flight instructors who flew in from Toulouse, France.

Before they graduate, the trainees will be tested and observed by regulators from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), which he explained are composed mostly of retired and experienced pilots from PAL and other airlines.