Aegean, the largest airline in our country, is investing in the training of the pilots of the future, which very soon plans to create in Greece the first flight simulation center and crew training. This is the most modern aeronautical training hub in all of southeastern Europe to be built in collaboration with the Canadian CAE, the world’s leading company in the aeronautical training industry for pilots and cabin crew.
To realize the magnitude and impact this move will have on the industry, the two companies organize a large press mission in Madridwhere CAE has been operating its first European training center for years, on the outskirts of the airport of the Spanish capital.
Santorini takeoff simulation
In a closed shed, one dominates huge white canopy with robotic arms. Its inside is exactly like the cabin of an airplane civil aviation. The pilots in training and co-pilots, upon entering, feel as if they were in a normal plane and thanks to the technology, the scenario that calls them to take off from the Santorini airport is simulated.
Any difficulty in the morphology of the terrain of the island, are captured in great detail on CAE computersTherefore, the apprentices actually have the feeling that they are taking off from the Santorini National Airport, which since 2017 and for 40 years has been ceded to the Fraport consortium for exploitation.
By the end of 2023, the training center in Athens will be ready
A corresponding Flight Simulation and Crew Training Center will be created very soon at the new Aegean technical base at the Athens International Airport, “Eleftherios Venizelos”. The center will have capacity for up to 7 full flight simulators and it is expected to be operational by the end of 2023.
In particular, in the first stage of development, the Educational Center will have four flight simulators (including two Airbus A320neo, a Boeing 737NG and an ATR 72-600), as well as cabin crew training equipment, with the installation of three additional simulators planned. In full development, the center will be able to train up to 3,500 pilots a year (42,000 hours of training) and many times that number of cabin crew.
The creation of the new AEGEAN and CAE Training Center forms part of AEGEAN’s total investment of 140 million eurosto create a modern aviation ecosystem in Greece, announced late last year, while further expanding CAE’s already significant global network of training centers.
Geroyiannis: We are significantly strengthening Aegean’s technical capabilities
As stated from Madrid, Aegean Managing Director, Mr. Dimitris Gerogiannis, through this investment the company significantly strengthens its competitiveness and technical capabilities. He spoke of a vision of years that is now being realized, as the planning began before the pandemic. For his part, Mr. Panagiotis siskosAegean’s director of training, stated that “the new center offers greater flexibility to the company” as Greece gradually places itself on the European and international map as an executive incubator, training the pilots and engineers of the future.
In addition to improving the training of pilots and cabin crew, the training capacity of the center makes it possible to expand the support services that Aegean can offer to third-party companies. Typically 60% of the Center’s capacity can be used for third party flight crew training and 40% for Aegean.
Clean energy thanks to photovoltaic panels
It is also worth mentioning the fact that for the operation of the Flight Simulators and Aegean and CAE Crew Training Center, it will consume clean energy that will be produced by the installation of 35,000 m2 of photovoltaic panels with a total power of 3 MW or 4.4 GWh per year, located in the new Aegean technical base at the Athens International Airport. will be created one of the first “green” hangars in Europeinside one of the greenest airports in Europe.
Work is currently underway to improve the facilities of the new technical base building, to accommodate simulators such as those in Madrid and that the political leaders have presented to journalists, according to Mr. Yiannis Panagiotopoulos, Director of Planning. Aegean Economy, the Greek company that will carry out the investment has been set up and they are already in contact with construction companies. “Within the next few weeks, the general contractor will be announced. The investment is on schedule, based on the initial announcements that were made,” he said in statements to the press.
What is CAE?
CAE, as a technology company, promotes digitization by developing simulation training and providing critical operations support solutions. “Above all, though, we enable pilots and airlines to perform at their best every day. We are located all over the world, with more than 200 training points in more than 40 countries, maintaining more than 13,000 employees”, according to him. CAE represents 75 years of industry innovation: flight simulators and customized training programs.
Who is Aegeus?
AEGEAN and its subsidiary Olympic Air carried 12.5 million passengers in 2022. The 2023 route schedule covers a network of 161 destinations (30 domestic and 131 international) in 46 countries, with a fleet of 76 aircraft, including the new Airbus A320 and A321 neo. AEGEAN is a member of the world’s largest airline alliance, STAR ALLIANCE, and was awarded for the eleventh consecutive year and 12 overall in the last 13 years, as the Best Regional Airline in Europe by the Skytrax World Airline Awards organization.
The journalists who were in Madrid had the opportunity, in addition to the tour of the flight simulators, to enjoy the views of the city and of course the comforts of an Aegean flight from Athens to the Spanish capital and vice versa.