Airbus and the French Civil Aviation University, ENAC, have obtained EASA certification for a co-developed ab initio pilot cadet training programme that will be used by a worldwide network of partner flight schools, starting with the first customer Escuela de Aviacion Mexico (EAM) in Mexico city early 2019.

Pilot cadets worldwide will now be able to benefit from a complete and fully integrated Airline Transport Pilot Licence programme built upon Airbus’ safety and reliability standards and extensive experience in pilot training.

The programme will be open to young people over 18 years old who have graduated from high school. Candidates will undergo online and on-site screening tests before being eligible for training, which will include 750 hours of ground school, plus 200 hours of flight training.

Airbus tripled its training locations worldwide in the last few years, most recently with the Airbus Asia Training Centre in Singapore. The company predicts that a total of 540,000 new pilots will be needed worldwide over the next two decades.