Continuing with its aviation technology leadership in Africa, Ethiopian, the largest and most profitable airline of the continent, announced that it has acquired the first ever B-787 Dreamliner full flight simulator in Africa. The installation and build-up of the full flight Simulator is in progress at Ethiopian main Hub in Addis Ababa and the first pilot training in the B-787 flight simulator will start in March, 2015.
Ethiopian was the first airline in the world outside Japan to receive and operate the B-787 Dreamliner in August 2012. Currently, the airline is the largest operator of the B-787 in Africa. With the installation of the B-787 flight simulator, Ethiopian will be the first in Africa to give full flight simulator training for pilots on the B-787 aircraft.
CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group, Mr. Tewolde Gebremariam, said “We are continually investing in developing our training capability. With installation of the B-787 Flight Simulator, we will be fully self-sufficient in providing in-house training for our pilots on the B-787 aircraft, which has become our core fleet on our mid and long range routes.
Over the last 4 years, we have invested $ 80 million in expanding both the scope and scale of our Academy. In line with our 15 years strategic roadmap Vision 2025, we will continue to invest heavily on our Academy with the objective of increasing its annual in-take capacity to from currently 1,000 trainees to about 4,000 by 2025.”
Ethiopian already provides full flight simulator training for pilots on the Q-400, the B737, the B757 and the B767.
Ethiopian Aviation Academy is certified by the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, the U.S Federal Aviation Administration, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and IOSA (IATA Safety Audit). The Academy has been providing training for pilots, maintenance technicians, cabin crew, marketing and leadership for the airline and other sisterly carriers in Africa for more than six decades.
(Ethiopian Press Release)
