Emirates to establish N62bn flight academy

BY AGENCIES

EMIRATES Airlines has announced plans to establish Emirates Flight Training Academy, a dedicated flight training centre, that will be located at Dubai World Central Airport for global training.

Emirates said it is investing AED 400 million (N62 billion) in the development of the dedicated flight training facility which will have the capacity to train up to 400 students at a time.

The Academy will incorporate its own Flight Training Organisation (FTO) which will allow Emirates, for the first time, to train its UAE National Cadet Pilots in Dubai.

“The aviation industry is growing at a phenomenal rate and a critical element in this growth is trained pilots, as well as training our own United Arabs Emirates (UAE) National Cadets, it will have the capacity to train a large number of pilots from other carriers and will set the benchmark for training excellence in the region,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and chief executive, Emirates Airline and Group.

Emirates said it is working closely with industry leaders to ensure the facility is equipped with the state-of-the-art equipment and trainers, in order to meet worldwide aviation training best practice.

According to him, “As an industry leader, it is incredibly important to us that the cadets trained at our facility meet the high standard set by the industry.

Emirates has a strong relationship with our current cadet training providers; however, we feel the time is right to introduce our own Cadet Pilot Training facility.

 

Components of the course will include an aviation foundation course and Airline Transport Pilot Licence module, in addition to flying training aircraft. Students, who successfully complete the intense three-year course will be awarded a Commercial Pilot Licence on graduation and will be ready to commence specific aircraft type training.