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The Vietnam National Flag Carrier (Vietnam Airlines - VNA) on June 20 has officially inaugurated the Airbus A320/321 flight simulator cockpit at its training center in Ho Chi Minh City.
This new device will help the Airlines complete the whole process of training and transfer of pilots to the Airbus 320/321, as well as become a part of the periodic training of pilots of all aircraft operators in Vietnam.
VNA now has 727 pilots, around 48% of which are flying Airbus 320/321 (173 foreign and 178 domestic).
Each year, VNA spends about 24 billion VND on pilot training overseas. With effective use of this new equipment and available human resources, a breakthrough in cost reduction can be achieved.
It is planned to develop the fleet to 165 aircraft, becoming the 2nd largest carrier in the region by 2020. This will allow VNA to carry up to 35 million passengers to all corners of the world, over a 3 fold increase from present.
According to Mr Le Hong Tien, head of VNA training center, the carrier has invested over 500 billion VND in the training section, in which the Canadian made flight simulator cockpit arrives at a cost of over 200 billion VND.
This year, VNA training center is expected to produce 50 pilots for Airbus 320/321, and required refresher training for another 140 pilots./.
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