Vietnam Airlines Engineering Company (VAECO), a subsidiary of Vietnam Airlines, has been officially approved by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency as an aircraft maintenance training organisation under EASA Part 147 standards.
Speaking at the announcement ceremony in Hanoi on April 9, Uong Viet Dung, head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), described the certification as a major milestone not only for VAECO and Vietnam Airlines but for the country’s entire civil aviation industry.
"After more than 30 years of development, Vietnam’s aviation sector has evolved from heavy reliance on foreign expertise to gradually mastering technology, engineering and human resources, with Vietnam Airlines playing a central role," Dung said.
CAAV's leader said the certification comes at a time of intensifying global competition for high-quality technical personnel, making domestic training capacity strategically important.
"It is expected to reduce dependence on overseas programmes while enhancing competitiveness and supporting sustainable development," he noted.
Vietnam Airlines Chairman Dang Ngoc Hoa shared at the event that previously, the carrier sent many technical staff abroad for training at a cost of around VND 4 billion to VND 4.5 billion (approximately USD 160,000 to USD 180,000) per person per course. With the new certification, training costs are expected to fall to about 10 per cent of that level.
According to VAECO, the certification follows extensive preparation since 2024, including developing instructors, standardising curricula and aligning documentation with EASA requirements.
With this recognition, VAECO becomes the first organisation in Vietnam to achieve EASA Part 147 certification and one of only four in Southeast Asia to hold both Part 145 and Part 147 approvals for aircraft maintenance, repair and technical training.
The company is already one of Vietnam’s leading maintenance providers, certified by more than 20 aviation authorities worldwide, including the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, the Federal Aviation Administration and EASA. It serves not only Vietnam Airlines’ fleet but also international carriers, including Germany’s Lufthansa Group, which has sent Airbus A350 aircraft to VAECO for maintenance.
At the event, VAECO also signed training cooperation agreements with the Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport, Sun PhuQuoc Airways and the Vietnam Association of Aviation Science and Technology to expand aviation training programmes aligned with industry needs and EASA standards.
