The Ethiopian Aviation University was established as a small aviation training center in 1956 on the premises of the headquarters of Ethiopian Airlines in Addis Ababa. The aviation training center has been training pilots, technicians, cabin crew, and airline sales agents required for the operation of Ethiopian Airlines. The training center has played a crucial role in the success of the national airline by providing well-trained staff. Almost all of the senior executives of the airline, including former CEOs Girma Wake, Tewolde Gebremariam, and the current CEO, Mesfin Tasew, have been trained at that once-small aviation training center.

With a humble beginning in the 1950s with a few instructors, the aviation training center expanded and grew steadily over the consecutive decades. When Ethiopian Airlines transformed into an aviation group and unveiled the ambitious Vision 2025 growth strategy, the airline made a whopping investment of more than USD 100 million in the aviation training center to elevate it into a full-fledged aviation academy.

The fast-growing national airline’s demand for aviation professionals increased drastically. To meet the growing requirement, the airline invested heavily in acquiring dozens of trainer aircraft, flight simulators, and cabin crew training mock aircraft. It also built facilities such as classrooms, dormitories, a dining hall, an auditorium, and a library. Five modern buildings, comprising various facilities, were built. The aviation academy became one of the eight profit centers of Aviation Group.

“Human resource development was one of the five pillars of our Vision 2025 growth strategy,” Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mesfin Tasew said. “In ET, human resources have always been our priority agenda, even when we were a small airline,” Mesfin added.

To cope with the rapid growth of the airline and to meet its future development goals, the aviation academy must grow proportionally. Accordingly, the aviation academy was transformed into a full-fledged aviation university in 2023.

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The Ethiopian Aviation University has a Pilot Training School, Aircraft Maintenance Technicians School, Cabin Crew Training School, Commercial and Ground Services Training School, Leadership and Career Development Training School, School of Aerospace Engineering, and School of Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality. It has an annual intake capacity of 4,000 students. The university offers short-term and recurrent training for Ethiopian staff and self-sponsored students.

According to Kassie Yimam, Vice President of Trainings and Acting President of the Ethiopian Aviation University, and approved by the Ethiopian Education Training Authority, the university offers a BSc degree in Aeronautical Engineering, a BSc degree in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering, a BSc degree in Aviation Management, a BA degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management, and an MBA in Aviation Management.

“Aircraft manufacturing and aircraft systems have moved toward modern technologies like computer digitization, the Internet of Things, AI, and machine learning. These new developments in aircraft technology require a higher level of knowledge and skills. Therefore, the Ethiopian Aviation Academy has transformed into an aviation university that offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs,” Kassie said. “We are nurturing young aviation professionals with the required knowledge, competency, and attitude,” he added.

Ethiopian Airlines has established an aerospace manufacturing plant that manufactures wire harnesses and insulation blankets and supplies the products to Boeing. The airline is in the process of expanding this small manufacturing plant into a full-fledged aerospace manufacturing industry.

“We plan to begin designing and manufacturing aircraft parts and components. That is why we have established the School of Aerospace Engineering,” Kassie said.

According to Kassie, the aviation university collaborates with OEMs, mainly with Boeing and Airbus, in human resource development.  “We have a very strong partnership with Boeing in the areas of human resource and infrastructure development. In collaboration with Boeing, we designed a master’s program in data science. We collaborate on data analytics and research. We also collaborate in developing infrastructure, facilities, and simulation,” he said.

Airbus is also assisting Ethiopian Airlines with human resource development programs. “We recently started collaborating with Airbus in capacity building, infrastructure, technology, and materials development.”

Kassie revealed that the secret behind the success of Ethiopian Airlines lies in its human resource strategy.

“We do not want to grow alone. We want to grow together with our African brothers and sisters. We always train students from other African countries. We are building all this infrastructure not only for Ethiopian but also for all other African airlines. Our partner airlines share the infrastructure with us. Building such expensive infrastructure in every African country could be a daunting task. Instead, we can share what we already have,” he said.

Currently, the Aviation University has 2,000 students, and 200 of them are from different African countries. Kassie said the university has signed partnership agreements with several African countries to train a large number of students. “Our doors are open to all African countries,” he concluded.

Kaleyesus Bekele is a seasoned expert in the aviation industry. He currently resides in the US.

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