Lufthansa Technical Training (LTT) and the APFT Maintenance Training (APFT) aviation school have just signed a contract for training aviation technicians in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The programme begins January 2015, and the companies estimate that in five years they will train 400 APFT students as European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)-qualified aircraft mechanics.

Dato Faruk Othmann, Director of APFT, said: ’APFT through its flight school Asia Pacific flight training has been conducting pilot training and is now expanding into engineering training through its maintenance training school. We believe that this agreement with LTT will benefit not only students but the aviation industry in the region as well’.

Andreas Kaden, Managing Director of LTT, added: ’This is a major success for us in the booming but highly competitive aviation training segment in Asia. This long-term contract gives both parties the security they need for their planning and allows the Malaysian aviation industry to benefit from LTT's international experience in technical training programmes.’

Starting in January 2015, training staff from LTT will conduct lessons in theory and practice with EASA-approved LTT instructional materials and administer the exams as well. LTT experts will also evaluate the exams and issue certificates.

Training takes place at APFT facilities. After successful completion of training, graduates can apply to EASA or one of the national authorities for an EASA CAT A 1 licence after another three years of on-the-job training.