LONDON – The Cathay Pacific Group is going to be collaborating with the Hong Kong-based Vocational Training Council to nurture and develop aviation talent in the region.
Vocational Training Council
The Vocational Training Council, or VTC, is the largest Hong Kong-based vocational school that provides credentials for over 250,000 students yearly.
It offers a full range of pre-employment and in-service programs with internationally recognized qualifications.
The VTC has many different types of member institutes, each with its own discipline focus and a different industry they are focusing in.
For example, some programs are specializing in culinary education, while another is an alternative to a standard primary school.
Memorandum of Understanding
The 2 parties – the Cathay Pacific Group, and VTC – have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, to “jointly nurture a new generation of talent as the aviation industry’s growth picks up in the lead-up to the completion of the Three-Runway System in Hong Kong.”
The Group’s participating companies include: Cathay Pacific, HK Express, Air Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific Services Limited – which operates the Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal – Cathay Pacific Catering Services (H.K.) Limited, Hong Kong Airport Services Limited, and Vogue Laundry Service Limited.
Under Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Liu Chun-san remarked that the pandemic has put the aviation industry on a bumpy flight over the past few years.
But like planes flying out of air turbulence, Hong Kong International Airport has been filling up again, and airlines have been flying to new destinations daily as the pandemic receded.
“Numerous exciting developments in our aviation scene have been also unfolding, including the Three-Runway System which would significantly increase our airport’s handling capacity,” he stated.
He said the cooperation between the Cathay Pacific Group and VTC was a very timely one to provide new talents to power the aviation industry through recovery and beyond. Cathay Pacific is a world-class airline well-known for its high-quality service.
VTC, on the other hand, has been a beacon of success in training our stewards of the sky by offering a broad range of courses covering aircraft engineering, aviation and logistics, aviation services, and inflight and passenger services.
Liu pointed out that the combination of the Cathay Pacific Group and VTC would further enhance the VTC’s training facilities and career support for students in the Group.
Some elements of the Group’s cabin crew training would also be integrated into the VTC’s curriculum, thereby equipping students with practical industry knowledge that would prepare them even better for their future careers.
Cathay Pacific Group Chief Executive Officer Ronald Lam said: “As Hong Kong’s home airline, we are committed to continuing to invest in young local talent and the long-term development of the Hong Kong aviation hub.”
“The collaboration with VTC provides a sound foundation for the talent supply chain in the aviation industry. We look forward to welcoming students with a passion for joining the aviation industry and becoming part of the Cathay Pacific Group upon graduation.”
VTC Executive Director Donald Tong remarked that the MoU signing set a new milestone for collaboration between the VTC and the group to prepare a new generation of aviation talents jointly.
This type of vocational education is a much more preferred way of education for the younger generation as the students are able to choose their own directions.
As the years have passed, the world has changed drastically, with newer and higher standards being set over time.
With the new collaboration, the airline has the opportunity to set the tone of training with their own standards.
