TRAINEES GRADUATE FOR FALKLANDS ROLES

At Aquila, we are keen to recruit and train new engineers on the latest air traffic management and air defence systems. That includes young people from the communities in which we work.

Our second cohort of trainees bound for the Falkland Islands has now graduated from the Aquila Training Academy, based at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire. The four have gained BTEC Level 3s in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Shrewsbury Colleges Group in 2022. They have now completed specialist equipment training courses and on-the-job training in the UK. They will shortly deploy to join four other recent graduates and Aquila’s team in the Falkland Islands.

Kirsty Lewis and Ethan George from the Falkland Islands, Casey Fenlon from the UK and Pedro Pestana from Portugal will travel South in late February to start their new careers at Aquila. They received their graduation certificates at Aquila Head Office from Head of Global Operations, Trevor Barnes.

The new recruits will have the opportunity work on various systems – from air defence to air traffic management – to ensure they become multi-skilled engineers. Their tasks will include maintaining the Defence radar at remote mountain-top sites and installing and maintaining air traffic management equipment at the British Forces’ Mount Pleasant Complex on the Islands. The team will help to install and commission new equipment at the base, including Topsky and other air traffic control tower systems.

Giving the new engineers experience of air defence and air traffic management equipment will provide them with skills to support in a wide variety of Aquila’s services, providing them with a range of options for their future careers at Aquila and in the sector.

Trainee Kirsty Lewis discusses why she wanted the traineeship…