Air BP Names Fifth Sterling Pilot Scholar

Jon Platt, CEO Air BP (centre), Sonya Adams, MD Northern, Central and Western Europe, Air BP (left) and Olivia Stone, Global Operations Standards Manager, Air BP and current JIG Chair (right) with scholars, left to right: Kristoff Ahlner, Zoё Burnett, Stephen Daly, Robert Norris and Alex May.Kristoff Ahlner from Shenfield in Essex has been named Air BP’s fifth Sterling Pilot Scholar.

The scholarship is valued at around £10,000 and aims to assist aspiring UK pilots like Kristoff achieve their Private Pilot’s License (PPL).  As the industry faces a global pilot shortage with 790,000 new civil aviation pilots needed to fly the world’s fleet over the next 20 years, Air BP’s program is all the more important.

Kristoff joined The Royal Air Force Air Cadets (Hutton Squadron) aged 13 and simultaneously began gliding at Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. He has been captivated by flight and keen to become a pilot ever since. He has just completed his flight training at Stapleford Aerodrome in Essex following A Levels and intends to study Aeronautical Engineering at university prior to pursuing a career as a pilot.

Kristoff joined his fellow past scholars at a special event to mark five years of the program which was held at Air BP’s global headquarters in Sunbury-Upon-Thames, UK.

Air BP works with the Honourable Company of Air Pilots (HCAP), formerly known as The Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators (GAPAN), to organize the Air BP Sterling Pilot Scholarship because of its excellence in promoting the availability of scholarships to a wide public audience and its history of conducting a rigorous and fair selection process.

Air BP has named the Scholarship, after its globally recognized fuel payment card, the Sterling card. The Sterling card provides easy access to fuel for thousands of clients and makes life simpler for private pilots, aircraft management companies and corporate flight departments at any of Air BP’s 800 locations globally.