by Aegean, the largest air carrier in our country, is investing in the training of pilots of the future, which should very soon create in Greece the first Flight Simulation Center And Crew training. It is the most modern aviation training center in all of South East Europe to be built in conjunction with Canadian CAE, the world’s industry leader in aviation training for pilots and cabin crew. .
In order to realize the magnitude and impact this decision will have on the industry, the two companies organized a major press mission in Madridwhere CAE has operated its first European training center for years, right next to the airport in the Spanish capital.
Santorini take-off simulation
In a closed shed, we dominate huge white canopy with robotic arms. Its interior is exactly the same as the cockpit of an airplane of civil aviation. Pilots in training and co-pilots, who enter it, feel as if they were in a normal plane and thanks to technology, the scenario that calls them to take off from Santorini airport is simulated.
Possible difficulties in the morphology of the relief of the island, are captured in great detail on CAE computersso indeed the trainees have the feeling of taking off from the national airport of Santorini, which since 2017 and for 40 years has been conceded for operation to the Fraport consortium.
By the end of 2023, the Athens training center will be ready
A flight simulation center and corresponding crew training will be established very soon in the new technical base of Aegean at the Athens International Airport, “Eleftherios Venizelos”. The center will accommodate up to 7 full flight simulators and should be operational by the end of 2023.
In particular, in the first phase of development, the Educational Center it will feature four flight simulators (including two Airbus A320neo, a Boeing 737NG and an ATR 72-600), as well as cabin crew training equipment, while considering the installation of three additional simulators. At full development, the center will be able to train up to 3,500 pilots per year (42,000 hours of training) and several times that number of cabin crew members.
The creation of the new AEGEAN and CAE Training Center part of AEGEAN’s total investment of €140 millionto create a modern aviation ecosystem in Greece, announced late last year, while further expanding CAE’s already extensive global network of training centers.
Geroyiannis: We are significantly strengthening the technical capabilities of Aegean
As stated from Madrid, Managing Director of Aegean, Mr. Dimitris Gerogiannis, thanks to this investment, the company considerably strengthens its competitiveness and technical capabilities. He spoke of a multi-year vision that is now coming true, as planning had begun before the pandemic. For his part, Mr. Panagiotis SiskosAegean’s training director, said “the new center offers greater flexibility to the business” as Greece gradually positions itself on the European and international map as an executive incubator, training pilots and engineers of tomorrow.
In addition to improving the training of pilots and cabin crew, the center’s training capacity extends the support services that Aegean can offer to third-party companies. As a general rule, 60% of the center’s capacity can be used for training third-party aircrew and 40% by Aegean.
Clean energy thanks to photovoltaic panels
It should also be mentioned that for the operation of the Aegean and CAE flight simulators and aircrew training center, will consume clean energy which 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 on the new technical base of Aegean at the international airport from Athens. it will be created one of the first “green” sheds in Europeinside one of the greenest airports in Europe.
At this moment, the works of upgrading the facilities of the building of the new technical base are in progress, in order to accommodate the simulators like those of Madrid and which the decision makers presented to the journalists, as Mr. Yiannis said Panagiotopoulos, Head of Economic Planning of Aegean, the Greek company that will implement the investment has been created and is already in contact with construction companies. “In the next few weeks the general contractor will be announced. The investment is on schedule, based on the first announcements that have been made,” he said in a speech to the press.
What is the CAE?
CAE, as a technology company, promotes digitization by developing simulation training and providing solutions to support critical operations. “Most importantly, we enable pilots and airlines to perform at their best every day. We are established all over the world, with more than 200 training points in more than 40 countries maintaining more than 13,000 employees”, he specifies. CAE represents 75 years of industry innovation – flight simulators and custom training programs.
Who is AEGEAN?
AEGEAN and its subsidiary Olympic Air transported 12.5 million passengers in 2022. The 2023 route program covers a network of 161 destinations (30 domestic and 131 international) in 46 countries, with a fleet of 76 aircraft including the brand new Airbus A320 and A321 neo. AEGEAN is a member of the largest airline alliance in the world, STAR ALLIANCE, and has been awarded for the 11th consecutive year and 12th overall for the past 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 visiting the flight simulators, to enjoy the sights of the city and of course the comfort of an Aegean flight from Athens to the Spanish capital and back.
