Latin America’s first Airbus Training Center Inaugurated in Mexico

There is no question that increased aircraft and pilot demand has created an aviation training hot spot in Latin America. To address that demand, Airbus is expanding its training strategy in the region with the recent inauguration of Latin America’s first training center in Mexico City.

The Airbus Mexico Training Center (AMTC), a result of an agreement between Airbus and ASA -- a federal agency overseeing the management, operations and development of Mexican airports -- became the seventh of its type in the world, joining similar centers in Toulouse, Hamburg, Miami, Beijing, Bangalore and Singapore. The AMTC will set the standard in working with aviation authorities and major airlines throughout Mexico, so that it serves as a Center of Excellence not only for other training operations in the country, but also for the rest of Latin America.

Operating since May and already training customers such as Volaris, VivaAerobus, Interjet and Mexicana MRO, the AMTC is strategically located on the campus of ASA’s International Training Facility (CIIASA) near the Mexico City International Airport, and features a full-suite of A320 pilot training equipment, including two A320 Family Full Flight Simulators and an Airbus Pilot Trainer.

Consistent with the growing demand for aviation equipment and training throughout the region, Airbus will also establish an Airbus Training Center in Brazil within Azul’s training facility - UniAzul (Azul University) near Viracopos International Airport. The installation of an Airbus full-flight A320 simulator in UniAzul should be completed later this year. In late 2015, Airbus established its first maintenance training collaboration in South America with Aerolineas Argentinas, providing the long-time Airbus wide body operator with maintenance and engineering training services for A330 and A340 aircraft. For Airbus, the goal is always the same -- implement Airbus training standards, including our dynamic trainers and teaching techniques, while offering our signature flight training services to customers presently expanding and modernizing their fleets with the arrivals of Airbus aircraft.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
• According to the latest Airbus Global Market Forecast (GMF), Latin America will need more than 2,500 new passenger and freighter aircraft in the next 20 years, more than double today’s current fleet. Pilot demand in the region is expected to grow at a rate of 4.7 percent between today and 2035, creating an industry-wide opportunity to train more than 44,000 new pilots in the next two decades.

• As part of the global ‘Training By Airbus’ strategy, Airbus is dedicated to supporting a growing network of strategically located training centers, to ensure there are the qualified pilots, cabin crew and maintenance staff available to support the arrival of thousands of new aircraft into the airlines’ fleets.