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LATC to Invest RM10m to RM15m in Langkawi Next Two Years

Langkawi Aerospace Training Centre (LATC) plans to invest RM10mil to RM15mil over the next two years to establish itself as a full-fledged pilot training centre.

The centre would need at least 20 single-engine aircraft to cope with its maximum intake of 120 students a year, said chief executive officer Gen (Rtd) Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad. LATC, the third flight training school in the country, is due to start operations on Nov 1 with an initial intake of 15 students. It planned to take in between 12 and15 students at six-week intervals, Abdullah told a press conference in Petaling Jaya yesterday after the signing of an agreement for the purchase of four TB 10 Tobago GT aircraft. The aircraft, to be acquired from French aircraft manufacturer Socata, will be used as a basic trainer. Each aircraft costs about RM1mil. LATC intends to increase the number of Tobago aircraft to eight in 2006/07.

LATC is also expected to acquire a number of MD 3 AeroTiga aircraft from the Royal Malaysian Air Force, which now has 20. Abdullah said LATC would also acquire two Diamond 42Twin star aircraft by June next year, and increase the number of the twin-engined aircraft, which would be utilised for multi-engine training, to four by 2007/08. He said it would also acquire a fixed-based simulator. Meanwhile, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said the tremendous demand for pilots in the region had prompted his ministry to approve LATC as the third flight training school in the country. He said the Malaysian Flying Academy (MFA), which had been operating since 1983, had capacity to train up to 100 students a year.

The Malacca-based MFA has students from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, Sri Lanka and India. He said approval was given recently for a third flight training school, the Ipoh-based Integrated Training and Services. The school provides training for those seeking to be commercial pilots and has capacity to take in 30 students a year. Chan said he had just received the preliminary report on Hornbill Skyway, a Sarawak government owned helicopter operator. He said he has not looked into the report yet. In recent months, two Hornbill Skyways helicopters had crashed, prompting the Government to have the company's helicopters grounded.

Langkawi 23/09/2004