Avia College, a specialist vocational education institution owned by Fintraffic Air Navigation Services, won the bidding competition on basic training for Georgian air traffic controllers for the second time. The coming autumn will also include several other international training courses. What does winning the bidding competition mean for Avia College in practice? How does the international training programme for the autumn look like in other respects? What does providing international training mean for the activities of the educational institution?
The first basic training course for Georgian air traffic controllers was completed at Avia College in June. As the company won a new bidding competition, the next seventeen students will start their basic training in November. Aptitude tests for the applicants will be arranged on site in Georgia, while the actual training will take place in Avia College facilities in Finland.
“Seventeen students almost double the number of students we currently have enrolled in our basic training annually. It is great that our first well-managed training course for the Georgians demonstrated our skills, and we can now carry out a second training course for them. This may provide us with opportunities to organise further training. It also serves as a good reference when marketing our basic training provision to other countries. Winning the competitive bidding is of great importance to our operations from the point of view of the finances, employment and reputation,” says Antti Ruhanen, President of Avia College.
The first phase of the entrance examinations took place in Georgia in August. In September, Avia College representatives will make another trip to Georgia to conduct the second-phase interviews of the application process. Cooperation with Georgians has gone smoothly, as we already know the people and modes of operation from the first training course.
Training courses also for Norway and Luxembourg in the coming autumn
In addition to Georgians, this autumn Avia College will organise international training for Norwegians and Luxembourgians as well. For example, a five-week training course on basic theories for flight information service officers will be organised in Trondheim at the beginning of September. In addition, basic and refresher courses on on-the-job training and basic and refresher courses on competence assessment will be implemented for Norwegian students under an agreement lasting many years. At the beginning of October, students from Luxembourg will arrive in Finland for a basic ATC course.
“In addition to training, in November-December we will launch a research project relating to the work methods of local air traffic control with Eurocontrol and Luxembourg’s air navigation service provider. In the future, we will aim at building more similar partnerships in which we provide comprehensive training and development services for our clients. Avia College’s advantage is a small and agile organisation that adapts well to the clients’ needs,” says Pasi Nikama, Senior Vice President at Fintraffic Air Navigation Services.
“Over the years, we have also trained air traffic controllers from Sweden, Latvia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Estonia. We are constantly looking for new partnerships, and we are currently discussing the provision of our services with a few new actors,” Karlström continues.
International training has been increasing its share in the institution’s activities in recent years. This is also reflected in the planning of internal training far into the future. Avia College is responsible for all training for domestic air traffic controllers and flight information service officers in Finland.
“We have excellent training facilities and equipment and skilled staff. We are working hard to ensure the quality of our training courses. This requires seamless cooperation throughout the service chain, from sales to marketing and the planning and implementation of training. It is great to see that the work we have done together for internationalising our operations is starting to bear fruit,” says Ruhanen.
