DURBAN -Durban’s Skyy Aviation Academy’s move into the Dube TradePort will give the institution a platform to expand its student numbers and service the industry.
Training Director Anjil Naidoo says the academy will be able to offer more courses and add to its curriculum to further prepare their learners for the industry.
“We find that stakeholders, which are airlines and the airport constantly need their staff to be trained and up-skilled in what they do. We will now be able to deliver that training on their doorstep of the King Shaka International Airport,” she says.
Increased passenger numbers andinternational flights out of Durban, the future growth of King Shaka International Airport, Dube Cargo Terminal as well as the development of the Durban Aerotropolis bodes well for the aviation industry in KwaZulu-Natal, she says.
This year the academy has acquired further accreditations and was expanding. Naidoo believes next year will be an exciting one for both for Skyy Aviation Academy and its students.
Naidoo says she originally saw the gap in this training sector when the King Shaka International Airport was about to be built and realised there was a need for an aviation school in Durban.
“We knew that expansion was inevitable and we would get more international airlines flying out of Durban together with the local airlines. With this expansion, there would be vacancies in the vocation of aviation. People needed to be equipped for the industry.”
The Academy was accredited with the South African Civil Aviation Authority, TETA, Amadeus South Africa and through an international affiliation accredited for Altea CM Training.
However, Naidoo says currently their training challenge is with low students matric pass rate.
"On an annual basis, it seems that the student’s matric results are dropping. When students that come with a 30 percent and 40 percent pass it becomes a challenge,” said Naidoo
"Our pass mark for cabin crew is 90 percent and some students pass matric with a 40 percent average then come to our school and have to learn life-saving skills in an aircraft and pass with 90 percent."
However, Naidoo says the academy has systems in place that enables the students to achieve the pass mark .
To deal with this problem the academy takes the students through the transition from matric to aviation with their first training component, an Introduction to Aviation, which enables the learners to be knowledgeable about the industry holistically before they advance on to more challenging components.
Skyy Aviation trains airplane crew and grounds-crew as well as peripheral industry like travel agents amongst other skills
There are currently 260 students completing one of six one-year training courses that Skyy offers in Aviation Support Training with Cabin Crew; Air Travel and Customer Services with Cabin Crew; Air Cargo and Aviation Support Training with Cabin Crew; Aviation Support Training; Air Travel and Customer Services Training; Air Cargo and Aviation Support Training.
The academy claims to be the only accredited institution in Africa that trains students in customer management systems.
The academy says its international accreditation ensures that its graduates can work anywhere in the world and also attracts students from across Africa and Mauritius.