AirAsia announced today that it has gotten approval to conduct remote drone pilot training. In a press release, the company stated that it has secured its Certificate of Approval (COA) from the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM).
Classroom training will be run at AirAsia Academy in KL Sentral, while practical training will be conducted at the YMCA Kuala Lumpur field, adjacent to KL Sentral.
The intended purpose of the training programme is to support Malaysia’s dronetech industry while also driving the drone delivery market.
Leveraging its aviation experience
AirAsia will join Drone Academy Asia in being one of the few local remote pilot training organisations (RPTO) to win approval from CAAM for the accreditation.
Leveraging its aviation background, the programme will be developed and supported with AirAsia’s existing resources in aviation. This includes its safety management system, crew resource management, along with the remote pilot training modules both in the class and out in the field.
An update to its drone delivery project
Previously, the company has teased that its logistics arm, Teleport, was testing out drone deliveries at Cyberjaya.
This new accreditation is an update supporting the drone pilot project for the delivery of goods from AirAsia’s e-commerce platforms using automated drones.
The UAS (unmanned aircraft system) has become an important element in many industries with its ability to drive cost effectiveness and numerous other efficiencies.
Globally, the drone delivery industry has already taken off and is projected to reach US$7.388 billion by 2027, according to Group CEO of AirAsia Aviation Limited, Bo Lingam.
In true AirAsia fashion…
Anyone can learn to fly, as the programme is open to the community and requires no prior experience. This is in hopes of benefitting Malaysia in having more qualified remote pilots to support the drone industry.
At the same time, this will benefit AirAsia as the company’s Allstars (employees) will have another avenue to upskill.
Other than pushing for the advancement of urban drone deliveries for the e-commerce industry, training up more drone pilots can potentially increase support to remote areas during natural disasters too.
Commercial remote pilot training classes will begin from January 24, 2022, where registrations are open on AirAsia Academy’s website.
Featured Image Credit: AirAsia
