Under the contract, batches of 20 pilots each will be trained for 72 weeks in Viet Nam and France.
The contract will help pave the way for the transfer of basic pilot training technology to Viet Nam by the end of 2012.
Vietnam Airlines officials said the contract signals the company's interest in developing human resources for the aviation industry so as to ensure sustainable development of the sector in general and the national carrier in particular.
By the end of 2010, the airlines will have 636 pilots, 60 per cent of them Vietnamese.
For raising the number of Vietnamese pilots to 75 per cent of the carrier's staff by 2015, the Vietnam Airlines needs at least 100 new pilots trained locally and abroad every year to maintain an average annual growth of 10 per cent in its pilot contigent between 2011 and 2020.
Nguyen Sy Hung, chairman of the board of the Vietnam Airlines Corp, said the contract signed with the VFT would help the carrier cut training costs and make the airline more competitive.
VFT General Director Nguyen Nam Lien said in 2010 and 2011, the company would conduct four more pilot training courses for different airlines in Viet Nam and in the region, with the majority of trainees coming from the Vietnam Airlines.
His company will also co-operate with the Viet Nam Aviation Academy to teach flight skills to trainees at the Cam Ranh International Airport.
Lien added that technology transfer would be completed by the end of 2012.
Established in June 2008 under the Government's policy to offer basic pilot training for the country's aviation industry, the VFT is the first pilot training centre in the country that has obtained the Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL). — VNS
