Airways training for Vietnamese controllers

Airways Corporation started working with Vietnam in 1994 and had trained 400 Vietnamese air traffic controllers in radar systems over the past three decades. Photo / AFP

Airways Corporation has just signed a five-year co-operation agreement with Vietnamese air traffic control, VATM, and its aviation college, VAAC.

An enhancement to an already well-established relationship, Airways chairwoman Susan Paterson said the company started working with Vietnam in 1994 and had trained 400 Vietnamese air traffic controllers in radar systems over the past three decades.

Another 20 started training in New Zealand this week and Airways sent up two people to help select the training candidates with a programme it has developed called Sure Select.

"Only 3 per cent of people have the mental capacity to be an air traffic controller because of the brain processing spatial awareness and everything else they have to do to complete the task," she said.

"Many people go to do air traffic control and then they fail but if they are spending tens and tens of thousands, that's a waste of money."

It was better to put the effort in up front and select only the people who were going to pass.

Airways had a 95 per cent pass rate of people selected becoming air traffic controllers.

Paterson was part of the trade delegation accompanying Prime Minister John Key to Hanoi this week which specialised in leading education and aviation industry players.

She met with VATM and VAAC.

"We've had meetings with the chairs of both those organisations to cement that relationship and talk about working together going forward," she told the Herald.

Mr Key and Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce visited the air traffic control centre in Hanoi and were given a chance to experience a simulator for both air traffic control systems and piloting a plane.

Airways has two training schools in New Zealand, one in Christchurch and one at Massey.

"We've also set up three other colleges around the world - a joint venture with Emirates in the Middle East, one in Puerto Rico and one in China."

The company, a state-owned enterprise, had developed new smoother flight paths which had saved on carbon emissions and saved airlines in New Zealand $16 million on fuel.

"New Zealand looks after 30 million square miles of air space, which is 6 per cent of the world's surface, so we look after one of the largest regions in the world," she said.

"It really is important that we collect that revenue so we can invest in people and technology and keep at the forefront of air traffic control, which is all designed around safety, our number one priority."