Ryanair finalised Airline Flight Academy as its cadet training partner. Credit: © Ryanair DAC.

Irish carrier Ryanair has invested $59m (€50m) in a new aviation training centre in Santry, near Dublin Airport (DUB).

The new training and simulator centre features three full-motion simulators including one 737 MAX and two Airbus A320, alongside two fixed-base simulators (one Boeing 737 and one Airbus A320).

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It also includes cabin crew training and emergency evacuation device, as well as a specialist cabin fire training centre.

Access to these new facilities will help the Irish carrier recruit and train more than 5,000 new pilots, cabin crew, engineers and ground operations professionals over the next five years.

Ryanair has finalised Airline Flight Academy (AFA) as its exclusive cadet training partner.

As per the agreement, AFA will operate the training centre and recruit aviation professionals for Ryanair’s next phase of post-Covid growth.

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Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson said: “We have invested over €50m in this state-of-the-art Training Centre, and our agreement with AFA will deliver over 5,000 highly trained pilots, cabin crew, engineers and ground operations professionals over the next 5 years.

“Ryanair will create over 5,000 new jobs thanks to the expansion of our Boeing 737 fleet, with 210 MAX Gamechangers to be delivered over the next 5 years which will enable Ryanair to grow to carry 200m passengers pa by 2025.

“The AFA team have been a recruitment and training partner of Ryanair for many years, and we look forward to continuing to invest in this agreement, which has to date, enabled Ryanair to recruit and train over 18,000 highly qualified aviation professionals.”

Last month, Ryanair announced plans to cease all its flights at Belfast International Airport and Belfast City Airport.

The company ended flights at Belfast City Airport this month and will do the same at Belfast International Airport in October.

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