For Aircraft Technicians:

SriLankan expands training program

SriLankan Airlines has expanded its training program for Aircraft Technicians, and is fast gaining a reputation as a centre of training for the aviation industry in South Asia.

SriLankans Technical Training School currently has over 135 students in three batches training to commence rewarding careers as Aircraft Technicians. Among them are 26 international students from India, the Maldives, and Oman.

SriLankan Acting Head of Engineering, Priyantha Rose said: "SriLankan Airlines is firmly positioning its aircraft maintenance arm SriLankan Engineering to be the Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul (MRO) organization of choice in the region. This includes providing training and opportunities for youngsters in the region to enter this rewarding industry.

Young men and women who are trained at Sri Lanka's national carrier have long been sought after by other airlines, especially those in the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia. They include in particular pilots, cabin crew, airport service staff, aircraft engineers and technicians," he said.

SriLankan Technical Training Manager Harsha Priyadarshan said: "We have just started our latest batch of trainees, and expect to recruit yet another intake around mid year. Although most students training to become Aircraft Technicians are young men, this is a career which appeals to both sexes and there are also several women in training at the moment.

One batch will complete training this May, and another in May 2011. In the recent past, SriLankan Technical Training has also trained several batches of Aircraft Engineers from the Pakistani carrier Airblue," he said.

SriLankan's Technical Training School is one of the few institutions in Asia that is EASA 147 approved to conduct both Basic Training in Avionics and Mechanical streams, and Type Training for aircraft of the Airbus A320 family, the A330 (Trent 700 engine) and the A340. Programs offered at SriLankan Technical Training are accredited by the civil aviation authorities of several countries in the region, including Pakistan, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

SriLankan Technical Training two-year program is conducted in accordance with the standards of EASA Part 66 set by the European Aviation Safety Agency. The course provides a complete training with 1,200 hours of theory and another 1,200 hours of practical training in SriLankan Airlines engineering workshops and hangars.