Belgium's Skywings Flight Training Establishes Castellón as Long-Term Practical Training Base in Spain

Spain & Belgium – Belgian ATO Skywings Flight Training has signed a long-term agreement with Castellón Airport that makes the Spanish location a structural practical-flight-training base for both its Integrated ATPL program and the Brussels Airlines MPL program. The agreement converts Skywings’ Spanish activity into a permanent part of its training system alongside its operation at Antwerp Airport.

• Skywings has permanently based four Diamond DA40 training aircraft at Castellón, with approximately 60 students expected to complete practical training at the location each year.
• Students will typically spend three to six months at Castellón completing a substantial portion of their initial practical flying. The base is intended to provide additional flying capacity and scheduling flexibility for the school’s intensive airline-pilot training programs.
• The Spanish operation supports two training pathways: Skywings’ Integrated ATPL program and the 19-month Brussels Airlines MPL program. The latter progresses cadets through basic flight training, Airbus A320 simulator phases and an A320 type rating before successful graduates join Brussels Airlines as First Officers.
• Skywings already employs two people at Castellón and plans to double the local workforce over the following year as activity at the base increases.
• The agreement gives Skywings a year-round southern European flying base intended to reduce weather-related disruption and support continuity of flying hours. Castellón also offers controlled airspace and airport infrastructure that can be incorporated into progressively more operational flight-training scenarios.
• Skywings’ current Integrated ATPL offering is structured as a 26–28 month program with 260 total training hours. The school states that it normally starts three classes per year with a maximum of 10 students in each intake.
• The academy’s training infrastructure in Belgium includes an Airbus A320 FNPT II APS MCC device supplied by Simnest and a convertible Diamond DA40NG/DA42 FNPT II simulator. Its aircraft fleet includes DA40-D, DA40-NG and DA42 aircraft together with a Robin R2160 used for Advanced UPRT.

Source: Skywings Flight Training