The opening ceremony held on 14 June, 2020, marked the beginning of the activity of BAA Training China – a modern six full flight simulators‘ (FFS) aviation training centre.
Following the Joint Venture (JV) agreement between Avia Solutions Group PLC (ASG), a global multi-service aviation holding, and Henan Civil Aviation Development and Investment Company (HNCA), signed in July 2019, the companies have established the new BAA Training China training centre in Zhengzhou city, Henan province, People‘s Republic of China. The brand new training centre is designed to provide the capacity of 40,000 flight hours per year and train approximately 4,000 pilots.
After the COVID-19 hit, aircraft deliveries to the Asia-Pacific region in May 2020 have seen an increase. The domestic markets in the region are also gradually aiming to get back to full capacity. Only in China since February through April domestic market demand for air services improved by nearly 20 per cent. Therefore, the need for pilot training will remain strong for upcoming years.
With almost five hectares of land chosen in Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone (ZAEZ), the HNCA company has managed to build state-of-art training facility exceeding 10,000 square meters in a short six-month period of time. The training facility is planned to be equipped with six Boeing and Airbus family FFSs, training devices, modern classrooms, and a luxury lounge zones.
The newly-constructed modern training centre will commence operations with Boeing 737-800 pilot training as the FFS of the type is currently being assembled. The future FFS placements per FFS type as well as their quantity at Zhengzhou training center will be closely related to market recovery speed, and specific client needs BAA Training China strategically located in ZAEZ is 15 minutes’ drive from the Zhengzhou Airport, allowing pilots to cut down on time spent traveling for training. The well-developed infrastructure is ready to fulfill not only the technical needs for the training centre establishment but also the future Avia Solutions Group and HNCA development projects.
“The opening of the brand new training centre, BAA Training China, in Henan province is a significant milestone for Avia Solutions Group and also a big step forward in the partnership of Avia Solutions Group and HNCA. The alliance of Avia Solutions Group’s broad expertise in aviation services and HNCA competence in construction, process management and other relevant fields, create a synergy in business and add value to the city and country. Although we are going through a short downsize in the airline sector, we expect to have a bright future and believe that the aerospace industry, as the biggest economic contributor, will recover and keep developing further,” says Gediminas Ziemelis, the Chairman of the Board at Avia Solutions Group.
“For BAA Training, the entrance into China’s aviation market comes as a significant milestone in its history counting over 20 years now. The new training centre in Zhengzhou city established on the franchise basis marks the first BAA Training name’s appearance in China and the Chinese aviation training sector. With our broad experience in the field, with high standard services and competency-based pilot training approaches, we aim to support our partner HNCA, BAA Training franchise holder, with all the necessary know-how to utilize every opportunity and prepare professional pilots ready to enter the market. We are eager to work on synergies with local government and partners in order to contribute to the Henan aviation market development projects,“ shares Egle Vaitkeviciute, BAA Training CEO.
The group of representatives from Lithuania, Mr. Gediminas Ziemelis, the Chairman of the Board at Avia Solutions Group PLC, Mr. Vygaudas Usackas, H.E. Ambasador, Member of the Board of Directors at Avia Solutions Group PLC, Mrs. Egle Vaitkeviciute, CEO at BAA Training, and Mr. Vladislov Kondratovic, Republic of Lithuania Vice Minister of Transport, espressed their greetings and attended the ceremony virtually due to the travel restrictions imposed in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.