Emirates Engineering signs up for training excellence

Emirates Airline’s engineering division has signed an agreement with Emirates Aviation College (Aerospace & Academic Studies) to certify its apprenticeship programme with an internationally-recognised qualification.

Young UAE nationals apprenticed to Emirates Engineering’s UAE National Training Aircraft Maintenance Licence Programme will now graduate with a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Aircraft Engineering Systems, accredited by Emirates Aviation College.

The qualification is equivalent to the first two years of a Bachelor of Science degree programme from the UK’s Coventry University, enabling graduates to join the programme in its final year.

The contract was signed between the college’s Deputy Vice Chancellor Dr Ahmed Al Ali and Iain Lachlan, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President of Engineering in a ceremony at the Emirates Engineering Centre.

Dr Al Ali commented: “The Emirates Aviation College is committed to supporting Emirates Airline’s operations by providing the best qualifications possible to its engineering personnel.

“We believe this agreement between the college and the airline’s Engineering division will encourage more UAE nationals to join the engineering programme. The combination of work-based learning and academic study will lead to the production of very high-calibre professionals optimally suited to the demands of today’s aviation industry.”

Apprentices, both male and female UAE nationals, follow a three-and-a-half-year engineering course in Airframe & Engines and Avionics, to become Licensed Aircraft Mechanics. They undergo theoretical and practical training at the Emirates Engineering Training Centre, which is attached to Emirates Engineering’s hangars.

To become internationally-recognised Licensed Aircraft Engineers, they continue a further 24 months of on-the-job training in the hangars, under supervision, in preparation for their final examination by the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) for licensing accreditation.

Mr Lachlan said: “I am very pleased to collaborate once again with the Emirates Aviation College and I am confident that its programmes will guarantee a thorough academic grounding in engineering for our apprentices to ensure they can work as Licensed Aircraft Mechanics.”

Licensed Aircraft Engineers are one of the categories of professionals that Emirates needs to meet the staffing objectives required by its massive expansion, which will see more than 200 new jets join the fleet in the next decade.

For more information on the apprenticeship course, visit Emirates.com.