Gulf Air engineer apprentices to Train at Australia Aviation in Brisbane

Eighteen of Gulf Air’s brightest trainee engineers, eleven Bahrainis and seven Omanis, have headed to Australia to complete their training.

The group part of the Gulf Air Gulf nationals training programme, will spend 18 months with Brisbane-headquartered Australia Aviation, one of the world’s foremost aircraft engineering training establishments.

The Gulf nationals engineering programme provides young school leavers and university graduates with access to a respected and established career as a licensed aircraft engineer. The programme totals a five year investment including 42 months training, classroom and on the job training and relevant work experience to meet the assessment requirements for an EASA Part66 accreditation. These young Gulf nationals complete the programme with a globally recognised accreditation.

Aviation Australia is an EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) Regulation Part 147 approved training facility, established by the Queensland Government to support the development and growth of the aviation and aerospace industries in the Asia Pacific region. It has, in recent years, increasingly extended into the Middle East.

Gulf Air Technical Training and Development Manager Tim De Alwis, said that following recent changes to European Regulations, the trainees would have had to undergo an additional five year, practical, hands-on training programme, in-house, in order to meet the new requirements.

“In order to take advantage of the high standard of aviation training and effectively ‘fast-track’ the trainee engineers, we opted to use the state-of-the-art facilities of Australia Aviation,” he said.

“Trainees were initially given a thorough grounding on the fundamentals of aircraft maintenance, in Gulf Air’s Technical training school for a year. The best performers were selected for continuation of their training in Australia. By selecting this method we will also benefit from having productive, certified engineers working for Gulf Air in a shorter timeframe – some three years quicker than if we did it in house.”

While De Alwis leads a team to obtain the necessary new certification standards, the trainee engineers are ready for their Australian ‘adventure.’

Bahraini, Mohammed Darwish and Omani Mazin Al Ismaili who topped the recent examination tables, are excited and grateful for the opportunity being provided to them.

“The Gulf National programme opened an unexpected door for me into the aviation industry,” said Mohammed. “I graduated with a degree in electronics engineering form Bahrain University and wasn’t sure how best to use it. I am really enjoying myself and look forward to upgrading my skills in Australia and returning to work in Bahrain as soon as possible.”

Mazin said aviation ran in his family, with his father being a pilot in the Oman Royal Air Force.

“I grew up around planes and always wanted a career in the aviation industry, and I couldn’t wait. So I left high school and managed to get accepted to the Gulf Air Nationals programme straight away,” he said.

“Now within a matter of months I am off to Australia and am looking forward to working at Aviation Australia and working in various outstations as part of the programme. I am very grateful to Gulf Air for this opportunity.”

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