Lagos Aviation Academy (LAA), one of Nigeria’s leading aviation training institutions, is celebrating its 5th year anniversary by launching a contest to allow five aspiring aviation players to win scholarships at its training facility.

Founded in 2017, LAA’s vision is to improve the Nigerian aviation industry by making quality aviation training available and accessible to people who aspire to work within the industry.

According to the General Manager, Lagos Aviation Academy, Chinasa Mbene, offering these scholarships is a big step toward making that vision a reality.

She said:  “One of our goals at Lagos Aviation Academy has been to raise seasoned aviation professionals in the Nigerian aviation industry. For us, it is much more than giving out scholarships or training students, it is about being in a position to make a meaningful difference in the lives of people who aspire to be players in the aviation industry.”

Mbene added: “In celebration of our 5th year anniversary, we will be giving out five scholarships to people who are passionate about working in this sector. To be able to choose the best persons for these slots, we have decided to throw it open by asking as many as possible to register. Once they have registered, they will be shortlisted via certain criteria that we have set and the winners will be announced in August.”

The courses available for the Lagos Aviation Academy Anniversary Contest include the Cabin Crew Ab-Initio Course; the IATA Foundation In Travel and Tourism Course; Basic Ticketing and Reservation Course; the Amadeus Practical Course and the Customer Service Course. The contest, which started on Tuesday July 19, will run till Monday, August 29, after which the winners of the various categories will be announced.

The Academy Director at Lagos Aviation Academy and Chairman of the Association of Aviation Training Organizations in Nigeria (AATON), Bankole Bernard, noted that quality training remained key driver for excellent results within the aviation space.

He said: “Quality training for aviation professionals is a bedrock for excellence in this industry. As an aviation training school, we have taken it upon ourselves to ensure that we produce seasoned professionals who will make a quality impact in the industry. We, therefore, use this opportunity to call on other training schools and regulators to ensure that the standard remains at its best.”

He added: “We are so grateful for our growth so far, in our five years of existence, we have produced the overall best performer in Nigeria on IATA courses in 2018, 2019, 2021 and most recently, January 2022. Within this period we have also trained over 1,500 students in various courses. Most recently, we have moved to a newer facility to aid our vision of training as many students as possible”.