airBaltic Pilot Academy Marks 8th Anniversary in April 2026 with 174 Active Students, 164 Graduates, and First 5 Captain Upgrades

Latvia – airBaltic marks the 8th anniversary of its Pilot Academy this April, with 174 active students currently in training and 164 graduates having joined the airline since the programme's establishment in 2018 — including five graduates who have now completed their Captain upgrade to become the first Pilot Academy alumni serving as Captains on the Airbus A220-300.

• The airBaltic Pilot Academy currently trains 174 students from Latvia and other European countries, with theoretical and simulator training conducted at the airline's Training Centre in Riga and practical flight training at Liepāja and Ventspils using Diamond DA40 and DA42 aircraft.
• Of the 164 graduates who have joined the airline, the majority now serve as First Officers, with several also working as theoretical training instructors; five graduates have now completed their Captain upgrade — marking the first time Pilot Academy alumni occupy every level from First Officer to Captain at airBaltic.
• The Pilot Academy's development has contributed to airBaltic Training achieving recognition as a Diamond Authorized Training Centre, one of the few such facilities in Northern Europe.
• airBaltic now operates 55 Airbus A220-300 aircraft connecting the Baltic States to 80 destinations, employing more than 3,000 people. The airline is majority-owned by the Latvian state (88.37%), with Deutsche Lufthansa AG holding 10%.

Statements

• "The Baltic States is a small region, and for a long time, becoming a pilot meant leaving. You trained abroad, and often stayed abroad. The Pilot Academy changed that. Today we have over 160 pilots who trained here in Riga, and are now flying for the largest airline in the Baltics. It means that our region has the people, the knowledge and the infrastructure to run an aviation operation. The pilots flying in 2030 are being trained today. For the Baltic States, having a training programme like this means people who want to become pilots can do so without leaving the region, and once qualified, they work and build their careers here," said Pauls Cālītis, Chief Operations Officer, airBaltic.

Source: airBaltic