RI Needs 4,000 Pilots For ASEAN Open Sky

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Indonesia needs 4,000 pilots, 7,500 technicians, and 1,000 air traffic controllers to be ready for ASEAN Open Sky 2015 and ASEAN Single Aviation Market (ASAM) 2020.

"The existing aviation schools in Indonesia cannot meet the increasing demands in this sector," Chairman of the Indonesian National Air Carriers Association (INACA) Emirsyah Satar said at the first Indonesian Aviation Training and Education Conference (IATEC) here on Wednesday.

The conference, which is being organised by INACA in cooperation with the transportation ministry and the Australia-based Aviation Conference Group (ACG), on June 27-28, at Sultan Hotel, central Jakarta, will discuss aviation training programmes to meet Indonesia's needs.

With a population of 240 million, Indonesia has only 13 aviation schools, compared with 1,076 schools in the US and 369 in the European Union.

The IATEC speakers include: Sherry Carnary, the Vice President of Boeing's Commercial Flight Services; Robert Barnes, the President of the International Association of Flight Training Professionals (AFTP); and Graham JF Hunt, the chairman of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University -Asia.(IGT/T007)