Civil Aviation Academy positioning Bangladesh as regional training hub

Dhaka : Bangladesh's aviation training landscape has undergone a quiet but remarkable transformation over the last four years, with the Civil Aviation Academy of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) emerging as one of the fastest-rising ICAO-recognized training centers in South Asia. At the center of this turnaround is its Director Prasanta Kumar Chakraborty, who said, the academy went from an expired ICAO membership and inadequate infrastructure to securing ICAO's coveted Gold membership status in 2025 - just one step below Platinum. Talking to The Bangladesh Monitor, Chakraborty described the journey as one of rebuilding the institution almost from scratch after years of stagnation. A lost recognition revived The story dates back to 2013, when the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) made it mandatory for civil aviation training organizations of member states to obtain ICAO recognition. Bangladesh's Civil Aviation Academy initially secured associate membership that year - the entry-level "Bronze" status under ICAO's TRAINAIR PLUS program. However, after an ICAO audit identified several shortcomings, the academy failed to maintain communication and development efforts required for renewal. "As a result, the membership expired in 2016," Chakraborty recalled. At the time, he was serving in CAAB's Flight Safety Department as Deputy Director. The academy, he said, saw little progress over the years, with successive leadership changes and limited institutional focus. The turning point came in 2021 when then CAAB Chairman Mafidur Rahman assigned Chakraborty to take charge of the academy. "I joined in August 2021. By December, I contacted ICAO and restarted the process," he said. What followed was an extensive institutional overhaul. "There were no proper training procedure manuals, no quality manuals, insufficient instructors, poor infrastructure, and even classrooms lacked audiovisual equipment," he explained. The academy subsequently developed nine modern classrooms, introduced standardized training manuals, and strengthened its instructor base. In June 2022, ICAO auditors revisited Bangladesh and reinstated the academy's associate membership after finding that minimum standards had been met. Bangladesh begins hosting ICAO courses The revival quickly evolved into something bigger. In 2023, Bangladesh hosted ICAO training courses for the first time in its history. Until then, CAAB's internal training programs followed ICAO annex guidelines but were not officially ICAO-approved courses developed under ICAO methodology. Chakraborty said, the academy first focused on training its own instructors and personnel before opening programs to international participants. The initiative soon attracted aviation professionals from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Singapore, Uganda, and Cambodia. "Over the last three years, we have hosted more than 50 international trainings," he said. The courses were conducted by ICAO instructors, using ICAO-developed materials, with certificates jointly signed by ICAO and the CAAB Academy. The development marked a major leap for Bangla-desh's aviation training ecosystem, giving local aviation professionals access to internationally recognized qualifications without travelling abroad. FAA partnership adds momentum The academy's ambitions expanded further in 2024 when it partnered with the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to host specialized aviation safety training programs.Prasanta Kumar Chakraborty According to Chakraborty, the FAA selected only two venues in the region for the initiative- Bangkok and Bangladesh. The programs, conducted over three weeks, included three advanced courses costing between USD 80,000 and USD 100,000 each. Twelve participants attended each course, including officials from CAAB and regional aviation authorities. "For the first time, such FAA-level courses were held in Bangladesh," Chakraborty noted. The achievement contributed significantly to the academy's elevation from Bronze to Silver membership under ICAO in 2024. Bangladesh develops its own ICAO courses The academy reached another milestone in 2025 by developing two Member ICAO Training Packages (MITPs) - the first ever from Bangladesh. MITPs are specialized aviation training courses developed by member states and approved by ICAO for global delivery. "Once approved, these courses can be delivered in ICAO member states worldwide," Chakraborty explained. "Our instructors will deliver them, and revenue will be shared between ICAO and CAAB." One of the two courses is expected to receive ICAO approval by September this year after an 18-month development process. The academy's growing capabilities also led to Chakraborty becoming Bangladesh's first-ever ICAO-recognized instructor in 2024. Combined with the MITP initiative and increasing international participation, these achievements enabled the academy to secure ICAO Gold membership status in 2025. "It is currently the second-highest tier. Platinum is the highest, but that requires a much larger infrastructure, including hostels, auditoriums, and significantly more instructors," he said.Participants attending a training session at the academy Building Bangladesh's aviation human resources Beyond prestige, Chakra-borty stressed that the academy's transformation is fundamentally about strengthening Bangladesh's aviation safety oversight capabilities. He pointed to ICAO's eight critical elements of aviation oversight, noting that human resource development and training form the foundation of effective safety regulation. "If your training and HR capability are not proper, you cannot ensure effective safety oversight," he observed. Currently, the academy conducts around 250 national civil aviation training courses annually in addition to international programs. It also operates a dedicated course development unit that standardizes training methodologies through ICAO's Instructional Systems Design (ISD) framework. The academy expects to have four ICAO-recognized course developers by this year and potentially six to eight in the near future. Bangladesh is also increasing its pool of ICAO-certified instructors across different CAAB departments, including aviation security and operations. A regional opportunity Chakraborty believes Bangladesh now has an opportunity to become a regional leader in aviation training competency development. "Other than Singapore, no country in the region has moved this aggressively in training capacity building," he said. "In South Asia, this gap is an opportunity for Bangladesh. We can fill the gap and lead here." He added that if Bangladesh can continue developing instructors, course developers, and eventually ICAO-recognized course validators, the country could become a major regional resource for aviation training and safety oversight. At present, around 90 percent of trainees at the academy come from CAAB, while the remaining 10 percent are from airlines and other aviation stakeholders. Chakraborty sees strong future potential in expanding industry-focused programs, particularly aviation security training. "We are building a resource base for the region," he said. "This is only the beginning."