Mugoya Woes: KQ buys Sh360m training facility (January 2006)

Published on January 11, 2006, 12:00 am

By Noel Wandera

Kenya Airways yesterday acquired a new training centre for Sh360 million.

The modern facility bought from Mugoya Construction Company is situated in Nairobi’s Embakasi area.

Yesterday, KQ Managing Director, Titus Naikuni, said the airline needed the facility "to fit with its growing status as a world class airline and to suit its evolving training needs."

KQ will start using the facility, which will be known as KQ Leadership Centre in two weeks time.

The centre, which is on a 10-acre piece of land, with a floor space of 4,000 sq metres has a capacity of 1,000 people.

It will cater for all the airline’s training needs such as refresher courses for flight crew and technical study.

With time, said Naikuni, the facility will start providing similar courses to other airlines.

It is expected that the facility will save the airline training costs.

The airline trains its in flight crew in Egypt. "All other technical training, especially that carried at our base will move to the new sight," he said.

Kenya airways expects a third B777 to be delivered by July through the continuing fleet mordernisation programme.

Yesterday’s developments also come in the wake of the airline’s recent IOSA safety award by the International Air Transport Association.

The IOSA programme is an internationally recognised and accepted safety evaluation system, which assesses the operational management and control of systems of an airline.

KQ is the first airline in Africa to get the coveted price.