Business | Aviation
RAK airport to host DAE flight school
Ras Al Khaimah Airport will receive an infusion of new business and a much-needed facelift with the arrival of a Dubai Aerospace Enterprise University (DAE U) flight school in February.
- By Ivan Gale, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:51 October 10, 2007
Dubai: Ras Al Khaimah Airport will receive an infusion of new business and a much-needed facelift with the arrival of a Dubai Aerospace Enterprise University (DAE U) flight school in February.
The university recently signed a 10-year contract to locate the DAE Flight Academy in the RAK airport. The academy expects to train some 400 pilots a year on the premises and employ roughly 50 instructors, all of whom will reside in the surrounding area.
Shaikh Salem Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, chairman of the Ras Al Khaimah Civil Aviation department, lauded the deal and said it would have a positive effect on the local economy.
"A full fledged flight academy from DAE will add value to the airport and put RAK on the map," Shaikh Salem told Gulf News. "We're hoping this will attract other investors and companies to consider our airport as a destination for investment."
RAK Airport is currently one of the smaller airports in the UAE. This year it expects to handle around 300,000 passengers, mostly from charter flights, with the rest from commercial airlines. The airport will soon house the government-backed RAK Airways, which is in the process of starting operations.
"It's a quiet airport and we will be a major player there, accounting for the lions share of aircraft movements," said DAE U's president and chief executive, George Ebbs. "We think will be a source of economic development and importantly pride as well for RAK, and also a magnet for future investment."
Several renovation efforts are planned in preparation for the academy and a busy winter charter flight season, according to the civil aviation department.
Existing terminals will undergo a facelift, arrivals and departures halls may be expanded, and also runways, taxiways and aprons, the chairman said.
DAE U is one of six business divisions of the recently formed and state-backed aerospace conglomerate, which is in the process of planning a permanent campus at Dubai World Central.
The RAK academy will be the first flight-training centre ever to use jet engine aircraft, according to Ebbs. In addition to single engine, diesel-powered aircraft, the academy will train pilots on an Eclipse Very Light Jet (VLJ).
DAE is expected to announce the purchase of the aircraft during the Dubai Airshow.
The academy is currently in discussions with most of the major Gulf-based airlines to train pilots, the CEO said, including Etihad Airways, Air Arabia, Emirates, Oman Air and Gulf Air.
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