New Zealand Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor on Wednesday visited Vietnam Airlines’ headquarters in Ha Noi as part of his visit to Viet Nam from August 27-29.

At the meeting with Vietnam Airlines headed by CEO Duong Tri Thanh, the two sides discussed co-operation in pilot training and the development plan between the two sides.

Minister O’Connor, who is also Minister of Agriculture, Biosecurity, Food Safety and Rural Communities, affirmed Vietnam Airlines as a leading partner of education in New Zealand, including the pilot training and English language training. The quality of Vietnamese pilot training met all international pilot training standards, through the rigorous New Zealand pilot training programme.

According to Vietnam Airlines, it has sent 90 pilots to study in New Zealand, six of whom have enrolled to work for the airline and 84 other pilots have been studying in New Zealand.

Do Thua An, who graduated the pilot training programme in New Zealand, said the two-year high-quality training programme provided him with both theory and practice learning. “We learned much about piloting skill and received dedicated instruction from teachers when we studied here.”

Vietnam Airlines said it needed to hire at least 100 pilots annually. It now has 1,138 pilots, including 853 Vietnamese and 285 foreigners. — VNS