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Asia-Pacific Flight Training

We draw more students from the APAC region than from any other part of the world.

Our strong history in the region is the result of:

  • Partnerships formed with many APAC-based airlines, producing more employment opportunities for students from the region
  • Our Asia Program, with staff dedicated to ensuring the quality of the experience for APAC students
  • Highly favorable costs for US-based training
  • A strong reputation among our pilot graduates from the region
  • Our F-1 visa program, allowing up to 23 additional months to build flight hours in the US after training is complete
  • High representation from the region among our Certified Flight Instructors
  • Our Hillsboro campus location outside Portland, OR, with its large and diverse Asian community

Country-Specific Programs

China

HAA is one of only a handful of US-based flight schools authorized by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to train future Chinese airline pilots; regular review and renewal of our CAAC certification ensures that we continue to meet the strict training and safety standards required by Chinese authorities. Our CAAC certification applies to both our airplane and helicopter career pilot programs. Because of our certification and long track record with Chinese flight students, we have secured career partnerships with a number of Chinese airlines, including China Air, Sichuan Airlines, Shandong Airlines, and Juneyao Air.

South Korea

We welcome many individual Korean students in addition to those who come to us through our partnership with Korea Aerospace University, which supports Korean Air’s commercial pilot hiring needs. We’re pleased to welcome groups of KAU cadets to our Redmond campus for ab initio training multiple times per year. To learn more about the experience of our Korean students, read this interview with cadet Youngmin-Yoon on our blog.

Japan

Japanese commercial pilot cadets are an integral part of our flight community at our Hillsboro campus. In addition to our career partnership with Japan Airlines, many Japanese students enroll with us individually, drawn by our longstanding reputation in the country.

Vietnam

In 2020, Hillsboro Aero Academy successfully completed a long and rigorous process to achieve certification from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) to conduct professional airplane pilot training in accordance with CAAV regulations. That approval ensures that Vietnamese cadets who complete their training with us will be qualified to fly for Vietnamese airlines.