Airbus Flight Academy Europe has inaugurated a new campus in Angoulême in Southwest France to train the pilots of tomorrow. During the ceremony, Airbus confirmed that Barcelona-based Volotea is the first to recruit Airbus pilot cadets.
On Wednesday (March 2, 2022), Airbus Flight Academy Europe (AFAE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Airbus, announced the inauguration of a new campus in Angoulême in Southwest France. During today’s ceremony, Airbus also confirmed that Barcelona-based Volotea has become the first carrier to recruit Airbus pilot cadets. Volotea has recruited eleven of Airbus’ newly graduated pilot cadets, an endorsement of Airbus’ Ab-Initio (Latin: from the beginning) Training Programme, which opened in 2019. The programme equips cadets with the skills and mindset to become an ‘operationally-ready pilot’, focusing on key pilot technical and behavioral competencies.
In Wednesday’s announcment, Volotea’s CEO, Carlos Muñoz, said,
“This is a very important day for Volotea, as we are taking cadets directly from the Airbus Flight Academy Europe for the first time. We’re all very excited by it as we know the programme quality is of a very high standard, adapting perfectly to Volotea´s training philosophy. Our company keeps on growing year after year our Airbus fleet, and we’re going to be needing many more pilots. We certainly hope this is the beginning of a very successful long-term partnership with the Airbus Flight Academy benefiting many young pilots.”
The new AFAE facility spans 4.7 hectares and includes a 3200 square meter building dedicated to pilot training with 14 classrooms and briefing rooms, a simulator hall, auditorium and restaurant. The flight school is the first to deliver the Airbus Pilot Cadet Training Programme in Europe and has an increased capacity for training up to 200 pilots at a time.
The expansion of the ab-initio training base reaffirms Airbus’ commitment to support airline customers in training future pilots, with a projected estimated demand for 550,000 new pilots over the next 20 years. The Airbus Pilot Cadet Training Programme is open to high school graduates over 18 years old worldwide. Interested candidates will undergo online and onsite screening tests before being eligible for training. The training includes 750+ hours of ground school, plus 200 hours of practical flight and simulator training.
Source: Airbus