Thai AirAsia Partners Bangkok Aviation Center to Produce 70 Pilots Per Year

Thai AirAsia has partnered the Bangkok Aviation Center (BAC), signing a Memorandum of Understanding to produce Commercial Licensed Pilots at a targeted rate of 70 per year, in step with the airline’s plan to expand and receive 5 new Airbus A320 airplanes each year.

BAC has already worked with the airline to produce new pilots. At present, 7 classes, or 181 Thai AirAsia pilots have completed the BAC course.

Mr. Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of Thai AirAsia, said, “Thai AirAsia (FD) currently has 450 pilots, comprising 206 captains and 244 first officers. Up to 40% of the airline’s pilots are BAC graduates, making the company a main driver behind Thai AirAsia’s success over the past 11 years. With this Memorandum of Understanding, we aim to have BAC produce us 70-80 Commercial Licensed Pilots each year to keep up with our growth by 5 airplanes every year.”

Thai AirAsia is now sponsoring a total 49 pilots-in-training in 2 classes at BAC and is the company’s main client.

BAC was Thailand’s first private aviation school. Founded in 2002 with accreditation from the Ministry of Education and Civil Aviation Department of Thailand, the school is able to produce 180 pilots a year.

Capt. Piya Tregalnon, CEO of Bangkok Aviation Center, said, “This latest collaboration is an affirmation between Thai AirAsia and BAC to continue to supply the aviation industry with pilots. Apart from adhering to the curriculum and regulations of the Civil Aviation Department, BAC also invests in enhancing its course to meet the demands of Thai AirAsia, emphasizing trainees that have a wide range of experience and are effective pilots. BAC makes sure to produce graduates that are disciplined and feature all the valued traits of a pilot by having them visit a variety of airports and aeronautical radio towers, requiring submission of a Final Project and logging at least 20 hours in an Airbus A320 Type VI Flight Simulator before graduation. All together, these practices ensure that each pilot is fully ready for real world flight.”