First Emirates Flight Training Academy aircraft delivered

Emirates Flight Training Academy has taken delivery of its first two Cirrus SR22 G6 training aircraft at its base in Dubai. These are the first of the 22 single-piston engine Cirrus aircraft that have been ordered by the Academy to train ab initio pilots.

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The two aircraft, A6-CTA and A6-CTB, arrived in Dubai following an 11-stop transatlantic journey. Upon completion of manufacture, the two aircraft were flown from Duluth, Minnesota to Cirrus’ aircraft delivery centre in Knoxville, Tennessee. The two Cirrus planes then embarked on a journey transiting through 10 countries flying an average of over 5 hours a day. From Knoxville, they stopped at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA followed by Sept Iles and Iqaluit in Canada. From Iqaluit the two aircraft set out to cross the Atlantic Ocean in two stretches, stopping first at Nuuk in Greenland, then at Reykjavik in Iceland and completing the transatlantic sector at Wick in Scotland. Once in Europe, the two aircraft made their way from Scotland to Sywell in Northamptonshire, England and from there onto Venice, Crete, Aqaba, Bahrain and finally to Dubai. All the flights were done in daylight and the two aircraft flew in loose formation throughout the entire journey allowing for easier air traffic clearances.

 

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The Cirrus SR22 G6 aircraft will form the backbone of the training fleet of the Emirates Flight Training Academy. In addition to the 22 Cirrus SR22 G6 aircraft, Emirates Flight Training Academy has also placed an order for five twin-jet Embraer Phenom 100EV aircraft, becoming the first flight training organisation in the world to use the Phenom 100EV platform for training cadets.

The Emirates Flight Training Academy, located near Dubai World Central (DWC) airport in Dubai South, is scheduled to open in November 2017, the facility will cover an area equivalent to 200 football fields and will include ground school classrooms, ground based simulators, an 1,800m dedicated runway, an independent air traffic control tower and a maintenance centre in addition to accommodation and recreational facilities for cadets.

Author: Adrian Mahovics

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