UAE carrier Emirates has said that it will soon commence building a state-of-the-art US$135 million pilot training facility in Dubai.

Located adjacent to the existing Emirates Training Facilities, the new 63,318 sq ft centre is slated to open in March 2024.

It will accommodate six Full Flight Simulator Bays (FFS) for the airline’s future Airbus A350 and Boeing 777X aircraft.

With the addition of the new building to Emirates’ existing training colleges in Dubai, the airline said that it will have the potential to expand its pilot training capacity by 54 per cent per year.

Across the airline’s training buildings, Emirates’ will have access to 17 full flight simulator bays offering a capacity of more than 130,000 training hours a year.

In a statement, the airline noted that pilot trainees will benefit from the new centre by being able to set up and configure the cockpit environment using bespoke devices as part of the pilot training module and upload the data to the FFS prior to commencing their training session.

This first-of-its-kind concept is designed to shorten the trainee’s preparatory time inside the simulator.

Emirates said that it expects training of its first batch of A350 pilots to commence in June 2024.

“This US$ 135 million investment to build a new pilot training centre will ensure Emirates’ readiness to commence its pilot training ahead of the delivery of its new aircraft fleet starting from 2024,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and chief executive Emirates Airline and Group.

“The building will be equipped with the latest, technologically advanced simulators to provide the best training for pilots, while using solar power to reduce energy consumption.”

emirates.com