MINISTER JOE DEBONO GRECH PRESENTS CERTIFICATES TO STUDENTS ATTENDING EUROPEAN FLIGHT ACADEMY

The Minister for Transport and Ports, Joe Debono Grech, today presented certificates to students attending the European Flight Academy in Luqa.

Thirty students received their certificates after completing a course of studies leading to their Private Pilot Licence, Ground School Certificate or Basic Aeronautical Training. The past year has been very intensive for the European Flight Academy.  In fact, the academy is also marking the first anniversary since it was granted a licence to offer Flight Training in Malta.

Over the past year, 12 students have successfully completed their studies for the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority's Private Pilot Licence.  16 students have commenced flight training, while another 30 students have completed or are in the final stages of completing the Ground School Course.

In order to encourage more and more students to take up flying, the academy is also holding courses for cadet pilots aged between 14 and 15 years.  Some of these cadets have just finished their course while the rest will complete their studies in two months' time.  A total of 1,052 hours of flight training were completed, including 140 hours of solo flying.

The liberalisation of flight training in Malta has helped to encourage locals to take up flying. Until last year, students attending academy sat for their ground school exams here in Malta followed by cross-country and navigation training in the UK or the US.

Captain Raymond Zarb, managing director and UK CAA Examiner said: "The past couple of months have been very important for the academy.  Following discussions between the relevant Italian authorities, the Minister for Transport and Ports and the Department of Civil Aviation, students at the EFA can now do their navigation and cross-country flying over Sicily.  This is a great achievement for us and for the students as well”.

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Captain Zarb also said: "Now, thanks to an agreement reached with the Italian authorities and the UK Civil Aviation Department, all instruction is carried out in Malta and Sicily.  Our. students need only wait for the UK pilot examiner to come to Malta to sit for their General Flight Test and Navigation Flight Test.  No longer is travelling abroad to get a pilot's licence necessary.  This also means that the course will also be much cheaper, with students saving up to Lm700".

Last month, the Academy added another feather to its cap when a British Flight Examiner from the CAA praised the high standard of flight training and piloting in general. Capt. Acland Madge, a flight examiner from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), said he was impressed by the standard of piloting shown by the academy's students, adding credit was due to the academy and its instructors who had prepared the students to a high level of instruction he had not seen for some time.

The European Flight Academy began operations five years ago, making use of a small lecture room and kitchenette. After receiving an encouraging response from people wanting to train to become pilots, Capt. Zarb extended the premises to accommodate more students. Out of the first batch of 22 students who attended the Academy, 11 continued with their studies in the US and qualified for the FAA Private Pilots Licence.

Over the past five years over 100 EFA students have graduated from the academy.  Some of these pilots are now working with Air Malta or foreign airlines or as Flight and Ground instructors in the United States. Foreigners have also shown interest in the EFA and a number of foreign students have completed their course of studies at the Academy.  An international airline has also shown interest in sending over its students to study at the Academy.

Captain Zarb concluded, saying: "We have worked hard to reach this level of instruction. It is not only a feather in our cap, but also an honour for Maltese aviation, because now there is finally a fully-fledged flight academy in Malta, the first of its kind ever.

"I must also thank the Ministry of Education which granted a licence to the Academy for Flight Crew 'Training and Ground Theory for pilots.  What's more, were it not for the intervention of the Minister for Transport and Ports,  Joe Debono Grech, who recognised the importance of having a locally-based Flight Academy, we would not be marking this important event today. Today, what was but a dream five years ago, has become a reality and this only augurs well for the future of aviation in Malta."