In April this year, the Latvian-based airline “SmartLynx Airlines” and Riga Technical University (RTU) signed a mutual cooperation agreement with the aim of reducing the shortage of aviation engineers in the labour market and providing a high-quality education programme for future aviation technicians. After acquiring theoretical knowledge at the university, “SmartLynx Airlines” will provide an opportunity to put the acquired skills into practice.

“Aviation and transport manufacturing companies are undergoing rapid generational change and the entry of new professionals into the labour market is only partially offsetting the need for workers. As a result, the aviation industry in general, and in Latvia in particular, is experiencing a shortage of qualified engineering specialists. “SmartLynx Airlines” collaboration with RTU is strategically important both for us as an employer in order to attract new specialists and for the education system in order to attract young people to study technical sciences in Latvia,” explains Žigimants Surints (Žygimantas Surintas), CEO at “SmartLynx Airlines”.

The cooperation agreement concluded between “SmartLynx Airlines” and RTU basically stipulates that “SmartLynx Airlines” will provide students with the opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge to practice. Within the framework of the cooperation, the airline is also committed to supporting the modernization of the university’s laboratory and classrooms, encouraging improvements in the study programs and developing the final thesis topics, as well as providing guest lectures to RTU students. 

“It is in our long-term interest to invest in students’ practical skills and to help them to develop in their chosen profession. We are committed to providing a competitive workplace for young professionals here in Latvia. The company currently employs 80 technicians, about half of whom are from Latvia, while the rest are from abroad. So far, we are seeing a positive trend for students to stay in the company as junior engineers after completing their internship, some of whom are climbing the career ladder in six months,” explains Māra Šteinberga, Head of HR and Culture at “SmartLynx Airlines”.

Riga Technical University is one of the higher education institutions in Latvia that trains appropriately qualified technicians. The cooperation agreement between “SmartLynx Airlines” and RTU will mainly provide internships for students of the study programme “Aviation Transport”. This programme prepares the engineering specialists needed for the aviation transport industry.