Singapore Technologies Aerospace Ltd (ST Aerospace), has announced that it has signed a joint venture agreement with Aviation Training Academy (Singapore) Pte Ltd (ATAS) to set up a commercial pilot training academy in Singapore. The joint venture company, known as ST Aviation Training Academy Pte Ltd (STATA), will be majority owned by ST Aerospace with a 70% stake and ATAS, holding a 30% stake, with a total investment of US$5.2 million.
The academy will begin fl ight training in Australia in October and start the synthetic fl ight training at its Seletar Airport facility in Singapore by early 2009. According to Boeing, airlines around the world will require 17,000 new pilots a year until 2024 just to keep up with new aircraft deliveries. In 2007 alone, airlines in Asia Pacifi c are estimated to require over 40,000 pilots while there may be a pool of only 30,000 trained pilots available.