With the installation of the B787 Flight Simulator, Ethiopian will be the first in Africa to give full flight simulator training for pilots on the B787 aircraft.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA – Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian), continued its pursuit of aviation technology leadership with the acquisition of the first-ever B787 Dreamliner full flight simulator in Africa. The installation and build-up of the full flight simulator is in progress at Ethiopian’s main hub in Addis Ababa and the first pilot training in the B787 flight simulator will start in March 2015.
In August 2012, Ethiopian became the first airline in the world outside Japan to receive and operate the B787 Dreamliner. Currently, the airline is the largest operator of the B787 in Africa. With the installation of the B787 Flight Simulator, Ethiopian will be the first in Africa to give full flight simulator training for pilots on the B787 aircraft.
CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group, Mr. Tewolde Gebremariam, said “We are continually investing in developing our training capability. With installation of the B787 Flight Simulator, we will be fully self-sufficient in providing in-house training for our pilots on the B787 aircraft, which has become our core fleet on our mid- and long-range routes.
Over the last four years, we have invested $80 million in expanding both the scope and scale of our Ethiopian Aviation Academy. In line with our 15-year strategic roadmap, called “Vision 2025,” we will continue to invest heavily in our Academy with the objective of increasing its annual in-take capacity from the current 1,000 trainees to approximately 4,000 by 2025.”
Ethiopian already provides full flight simulator training for pilots on the Q400, 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, and IATA Operational 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 is a Pan-African global carrier voted by passengers as the Best in Africa for two years in a row by Passenger Choice Awards, the most comprehensive survey in the industry. The airline operates the youngest fleet in the continent, with planes an average of less than seven years in age, and currently serves 85 international destinations across five continents with over 200 daily departures. Ethiopian Airlines offers non-stop daily service from Washington, D.C. to its hub in Addis Ababa. It also operates three weekly flights to Toronto and, starting in June 2015, service from Los Angeles to Addis Ababa via Dublin, Ireland.
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