OREANDA-NEWS. March 18, 2011. Aeroflot Aviation School was opened in the office compound of JSC ‘Aeroflot’ in Melkisarovo. This school is one of the key projects that have been recently implemented by the largest Russian airline, reported the press-centre of Aeroflot.

The Aeroflot Aviation School is a non-government educational institution created for the benefit of JSC ‘Aeroflot’ itself and Russian civil aviation. The project based on efficient government-business partnership aims at solving nation-wide problems. The new educational institution will offer training in 120 aviation-related professions. The primary goal of the aviation school is to remove the shortage of aviation professionals that impacts the entire Russian aviation industry.

A candidate for training shall not be older than 35 and shall have a university degree in aviation engineering or general engineering. The training of future pilots is divided into two parts:

Stage 1: 1.5-year training at the Ulyanovsk High School of Civil Aviation as an additional vocational training with majoring in 'Aircraft flight operations’;

Stage 2: 6-month training at the Aeroflot Aviation School on a contractual basis with issuance of a commercial pilot CPL certificate (MPL).

The training in the Aviation School is based on state-of-the-art methodologies and equipment. One of the main advantages of the curriculum is that the student is trained in piloting a specific aircraft type (currently A320; later training for Sukhoi SuperJet-100 and other aircraft types will also be offered.)

The School also offers primary training for flight attendants.

Enrollment of students to the Aeroflot Aviation School has already started; each quarter the number of enrolled student will increase. An applicant shall conclude an agreement with JSC ‘Aeroflot’ in which he/she agrees to be employed by Aeroflot in accordance with his/her profession and reimburse in installments the money spent by the airline for the training.

According to the plans, 160 pilots (80 crews) will annually graduate from the School. Later on, students will be trained not only for Aeroflot but also for other airlines.

‘Aeroflot has selected the innovative-based way of development since it is the only option for a major network company operating worldwide, says Vitaly Savelyev, Director-General of JSC ‘Aeroflot’. Establishment of an own Aviation School where innovations are widely used and students are trained in innovative approaches is an important step in this direction.’

Stanislav Tulsky has been appointed the director of the Aviation School.