Finnish Government and Finnair owners of Finnish Aviation Academy

The Finnish Government, Finnair and the City of Pori today signed a shareholders' agreement on the Finnish Aviation Academy. The Finnish Aviation Academy gives basic commercial airline pilot training to meet the needs of all Finnish airlines as well as other aviation companies. With this arrangement, the training of professional pilots can be ensured according to predicted needs independent of industry fluctuations and the regular graduation of professional pilots can be secured. The Finnish Aviation Academy will use commercial flight schools operating in Finland as subcontractors with long term agreements.

Finnair's and the Finnish Government's shares of ownership are 49.5%. Finnair will assign the operations of its flight-training unit situated in Pori to the new company in return for shares of the Academy at the beginning of next year. The City of Pori's share of the company is one percent.

The aim of the Finnish Aviation Academy is not to make a profit for its shareholders. Possible profits will be used to develop the operations of the Academy. The Finnish Aviation Academy will receive government funding for its operations. The Managing Director of the company will be Captain Pekka Paajanen.

The project has its roots in a task force on education in aviation and railway transportation set up in August 1998 by the Ministry of Transportation and headed by the Ministry of Education. The task force's report was completed in 1999. In accordance with the proposal, the Finnish Parliament called for the Ministry of Education to continue preparations for founding an educational institution for the training of professional pilots.

The Finnish Aviation Academy fulfils this role.