Athens is dynamically entering the aviation training map thanks to the new big investment from AEGEAN that is preparing, with the aim of putting into operation by the end of the year, the AEGEAN CAE Flight Training Center.
Five months after AEGEAN announced its investment of 140 million euros and almost a month after announcing its joint venture with the Canadian CAE, the world’s leading simulator company, the construction works of the AEGEAN CAE Flight Training Center are in full development (improvement of the facilities of the building of a new technical base is underway to house the technological equipment, the simulators, that is, the rest of the infrastructures) setting September as the first estimated delivery period, with the aim that the training center will be operational by the end of the year initially with 4 simulators (in its full development it will have 7).
How AEGEAN’s large investment and the new pilot training center will make the country a benchmark in aeronautical education
Piloting is no longer a distant dream: AEGEAN invests in the youth of tomorrow
The AEGEAN – CAE training center will be part of the new AEGEAN Technical Base with a total area of 85,000 m2 that will be created at the Athens International Airport.
An investment that offers unlimited possibilities to the people of AEGEAN while broadening the development prospects for the aviation industry, but also for the country as a whole.
A great training center for pilots and crews that will place Greece at the top of the aviation training map in Southeast Europe, with the most modern and technologically up-to-date equipment.
A training center not only to cover the needs of AEGEAN, but also will cover the needs of third parties in a ratio of 40%/60% by attracting and covering the training needs of foreign pilots, foreign airlines and respectively the training needs. of cabin crew.
In this context and wanting to give a first taste of what the training center in Athens will be like, AEGEAN and CAE organized a press mission in Madrid and welcomed journalists from all over Greece to CAE’s first European training center, showing them the facilities a practically modern school, a training center with state-of-the-art simulators, as well as cabin crew training facilities.
Welcome from Dimitris Gerogiannis, CEO of AEGEAN:
The reception by Marina Spyridaki, AEGEAN Corporate Affairs Manager:
CAE simulators
The state-of-the-art CAE simulators, whose cost, according to people from the Canadian company, starts at 6 million and reaches 20 million euros, depending on the model, are essentially small, exact robotic rooms. copies of airplane cockpits in which pilots can fully simulate flights and test flights in various scenarios. The hydraulic systems within the simulator and the six hydraulic legs on which it rests allow the representation of every vibration, movement and sensation that would be present in the corresponding situations in real flight conditions, while the displays fully simulate the external environment. In the case of the visit of the Greek journalists, from the windows you could see… Spata, experience the takeoff or landing to and from El. Venizelos, but also other airports in the country such as Santorini.
As explained by the CAE in Madrid, the pilots are obliged to carry out eight hours of simulation per semester, as part of their training and continuous recycling with all that this implies for the needs and demand respectively that exists for the specific simulators.
With the start-up of the AEGEAN CAE Flight Training Center, on the one hand, the training needs of the company’s pilots and crews will be covered, but work will also be done to cover the general needs of the airlines in the region in general. .
“It is usual that for an airline to reserve a place for the training of its pilots now, it has to wait between 4 and 5 months”, as the head of AEGEAN Economic Planning, Yiannis Panagiotopoulos, had explained to iefimerida. long time.
The complex training for the difficult job of cabin crews
CAE’s training center in Madrid also includes cabin crew training facilities, just as it will include in Athens. An aircraft cabin in an interior capable of accommodating cabin crew to train for extreme situations. Open the security door, activate the slide, put out the fire, order and take care of the emergency evacuation of the cabin. Much more difficult and complex than it seems, it requires total coordination, harmony and… composure.
The systems allow the complete simulation of extreme and dangerous situations for the training of the crews, which, according to the AEGEAN officials, are trained to work as a team on each trip even if they can fly together for the first time, speak the same language and know exactly the same things, that is, everything, from the first day of work.
What will the AEGEAN CAE Flight Training Center in Athens be like?
The first modern flight simulator and crew training center in Greece, the AEGEAN – CAE training center (the largest and most modern of its kind in South East Europe) will be part of new AEGEAN Technical Base with a total area of 85,000 m2 to be created at the Athens International Airport.
This is an investment of 140 million euros to specifically create:
- of the first modern Aircraft Maintenance Service Center
- and the first Flight Simulator and Crew Training Center in Greece
The improvement works are already underway with the aim of having the educational center operational (in its first stage) by the end of 2023.
The crown of the training center will of course be the CAE simulators. In the first phase of its operation, the Athens center will be equipped with four state-of-the-art simulators, namely:
- two Airbus A320neo simulators,
- a Boeing 737NG and
- an ATR 72-600.
Subsequently, and in full development, the center will have a total of seven CAE simulators with the capacity to train up to 3,500 pilots per year (42,000 hours of training).
The first “green” hangar in Europe
And all this in one of the first “green” hangars in Europe.
It should be noted that for its operation the AEGEAN and CAE Flight Simulator and Crew Training Center will consume green energy that will be produced by the 35,000 m installation2 photovoltaic panels with a total capacity of 3 MW or 4.4 GWh per year, which will be installed in the new AEGEAN technical base.
A modern ecosystem of support services for air transport in Greece
The crew training center and aircraft (heavy) maintenance unit will now be added to the already existing AEGEAN schools, thus forming a modern ecosystem of air transport support services based in Athens.
The ability to operate aircraft maintenance will be done with the gradual development and endowment of the technical base, with a final capacity of up to 10 posts for heavy maintenance, repairs and checks of various kinds of aircraft.
The already existing Olympic Air Engineers Training School, with a strong operational tradition, will also join the same ecosystem, as well as the AEGEAN Pilot Training Organization, which is already operational.
The importance of investment
Through this investment, AEGEAN significantly strengthens its competitiveness and technical capabilities, expanding its development options and the level of knowledge of its people. Greece is gradually placing itself on the European and international map as an executive incubator for the company and the country, training the pilots and engineers of the future, offering unlimited possibilities and creating a new dynamic of added value, extroversion and competitiveness in AEGEAN, but also in the industry more broadly.
The Head of Economic Planning of AEGEAN Mr. Panagiotopoulos had described the investment as the creation of “a center that will contribute decisively to the strengthening of extroversion and the development of the country in the field of aeronautical education, since it is expected that the sector of aviation has great growth prospects in the coming years”. This is an activity that did not exist until now in Greece and that brings direct and indirect benefits, since the country is becoming an essential center in the field of aeronautical training, since thousands of pilots and crew members from third-party companies will visit Athens every year and will be the ambassadors of the country. We must not fail to mention that our geographical location is useful, since our potential clientele in countries in Europe and the Middle East is at a distance of 2-4 hours by flight”.
An investment that, upon maturity, is expected to create up to 500 new direct jobs and a total of more than 1,100 new direct and indirect highly qualified jobs in a period of five to seven years.
CAE Flight Training Center in Madrid
The CAE Training Center in Madrid is located
10 minutes from Madrid Barajas Airport and annually trains more than 5,000 pilots (50,000 flight simulation hours) and more than 15,000 cabin crew.
It has 11 complete flight simulators for the following types of aircraft: A320, A330, A340, A350, DASH8 Q-300, CRJ200/900/1000, ATR72-600 and B787, while there are 3 APT devices for the A320, A330 and A340, as well as an IPT for CRJ200 and CRJ900 aircraft, one for DASH8 and another for B787.