United Kingdom – Leading Edge Aviation Ltd. (LEAL), which operates flight training bases in the United Kingdom and Spain, has welcomed its second LEAP course of 2025, with LEAP059 batch of around 18 cadets cadets beginning their Ground School training. In parallel LEAL onboarded MGS034.
LEAL experienced an extraordinary 52% increase in Integrated student enrolment over the past year.
Source: Leading Edge Aviation
Photo Credit: Leading Edge Aviation
Dublin, Ireland – The Airline Flight Academy (AFA), one of Ryanair’s Future Flyer Gateway 2 partners, is offering pilots the opportunity to join its Airline Pilot Standard Multi-Crew Cooperation (APS MCC) course. The program is designed to prepare students for a career with Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers.
About Airline Flight Academy (AFA)
The Airline Flight Academy, based in Dublin, Ireland, provides advanced pilot training solutions, including APS MCC courses and type rating programs. As a Ryanair partner, AFA prepares cadets to meet the operational demands of Europe’s largest airline.
AFM team note: “Mentored APS MCC (G2) courses are available every month at one of our partner schools (AFA, AFTA & Aviomar).” according to Ryanair.
Source: Airline Flight Academy
France – FLEXSIM-ATO has announced the appointment of Julien Rudent as its new Compliance Monitoring Manager and Safety Manager.
FLEXSIM ATO offers MCC, Type Rating, SFI-TRI and E-Learning Courses. It has partnerships with Air France, transavia, Etihad Airways and Oman Air.
Source: FLEXSIM-ATO
Photo Credit: FLEXSIM-ATO
Dubai, UAE – Emirates is set to host its Pilot Roadshow in Spain and Portugal this March, 2025. The events will take place in Madrid and Lisbon, focusing on recruitment for First Officer, Direct Entry Captain, and Accelerated Command Program positions.
Source:
Global aircraft manufacturer Airbus SE (stock exchange symbol: AIR) reported consolidated Full-Year (FY) 2024 financial results and provided guidance for 2025.
“We achieved strong order intake across all businesses in 2024, with a book-to-bill well above 1, confirming the solid demand for our products and services. We delivered on our 2024 guidance in what was a testing year for Airbus,” said Guillaume Faury, Airbus Chief Executive Officer. “We refocused our efforts on key priorities, notably the production ramp-up and the transformation of Defence and Space. We continue to pursue profitable growth and our decarbonisation ambition. The 2024 financial results and the level of confidence we have in our future performance support our proposal for an increased dividend.”
Gross commercial aircraft orders totalled 878 (2023: 2,319 aircraft) with net orders of 826 aircraft after cancellations (2023: 2,094 aircraft). The order backlog amounted to 8,658 commercial aircraft at the end of December 2024.
Airbus Helicopters registered 450 net orders (2023: 393 units), with a book-to-bill ratio above 1 both in units and value highlighting strong demand for the Division’s platforms. There was also good order intake for helicopter services. Airbus Defence and Space’s order intake by value increased to a record € 16.7 billion (2023: € 15.7 billion), corresponding to a book-to-bill of around 1.4. Fourth quarter orders included 25 additional Eurofighter military aircraft for Spain.
Consolidated order intake by value decreased to € 103.5 billion (2023: € 186.5 billion) with the consolidated order book valued at € 629 billion at the end of 2024 (year-end 2023: € 554 billion). The increase in the consolidated backlog value mainly reflects the Company-wide book-to-bill of above 1, and the strengthening of the US dollar. Consolidated revenues increased 6% year-on-year to € 69.2 billion (2023: € 65.4 billion).
A total of 766 commercial aircraft were delivered (2023: 735 aircraft), comprising:
Revenues generated by Airbus’ commercial aircraft activities increased 6% to € 50.6 billion, mainly reflecting the higher number of deliveries. Airbus Helicopters’ revenues increased 8% to € 7.9 billion, reflecting higher deliveries of 361 units (2023: 346 units), a solid performance across programmes as well as growth in services. Revenues at Airbus Defence and Space increased 5% year-on-year to € 12.1 billion, mainly driven by the Air Power business. Seven A400M military airlifters were delivered (2023: 8 aircraft), including the first for Kazakhstan.
Consolidated EBIT Adjusted – an alternative performance measure and key indicator capturing the underlying business margin by excluding material charges or profits caused by movements in provisions related to programmes, restructuring or foreign exchange impacts as well as capital gains/losses from the disposal and acquisition of businesses – totalled € 5,354 million (2023: € 5,838 million).
EBIT Adjusted related to Airbus’ commercial aircraft activities increased to € 5,093 million (2023: € 4,818 million), with the positive impact from higher deliveries being partially reduced by investments for preparing the future.
Airbus Helicopters’ EBIT Adjusted increased to € 818 million (2023: € 735 million), reflecting the higher deliveries, a solid performance across programmes and growth in services.
EBIT Adjusted at Airbus Defence and Space was € -566 million (2023: € 229 million), reflecting charges of € 1.3 billion in Space programmes, including € 0.3 billion in the fourth quarter resulting from the completion of the in-depth technical review.
On the A400M programme, an additional update of the contract estimate at completion was performed and a net charge of € 121 million recorded, reflecting mainly updated assumptions regarding the new contract amendment with the launch nations and OCCAR and risk in the production plan. In light of uncertainties regarding the level of aircraft orders, the Company continues to assess the potential impact on the programme’s manufacturing activities. Risks on the qualification of technical capabilities and associated costs remain stable, with no major variation compared to 2023.
Consolidatedself-financed R&D expenses were stable at € 3,250 million (2023: € 3,257 million).
Consolidated EBIT (reported) amounted to € 5,304 million (2023: € 4,603 million), including net Adjustments of € -50 million.
These Adjustments comprised:
The financial result was € 121 million (2023: € 166 million), mainly reflecting the revaluation of certain equity investments and the evolution of the US dollar, partially offset by the interest result and the revaluation of financial instruments. Consolidated net income(1) was € 4,232 million (2023: € 3,789 million) with consolidated reported earnings per share of € 5.36 (2023: € 4.80).
Consolidated free cash flow before customer financing was € 4,463 million (2023: € 4,532 million), reflecting the strong performance in all businesses. Consolidated free cash flow totalled € 4,461 million (2023: € 4,096 million). The gross cash position stood at € 26.9 billion at the end of December 2024 (year-end 2023: € 25.3 billion), with a consolidated net cash position of € 11.8 billion (year-end 2023: € 10.7 billion).
The Board of Directors will propose the payment of a 2024 dividend of € 2.00 per share (2023: € 1.80 per share) and a special dividend of € 1.00 per share (2023: € 1.00 per share) to the 2025 Annual General Meeting taking place on 15 April 2025. The proposed payment date is 24 April 2025.
Outlook
As the basis for its 2025 guidance, the Company assumes no additional disruptions to global trade or the world economy, air traffic, the supply chain, the Company’s internal operations, and its ability to deliver products and services. The guidance excludes the impact of potential new tariffs on the Company’s business. The Company’s 2025 guidance includes the impact of the integration of certain Spirit AeroSystems work packages on its EBIT Adjusted and Free Cash Flow before Customer Financing, based on preliminary estimates and a closing assumption as of 1 July 2025.
On that basis, the Company targets to achieve in 2025:
Preliminary assumptions of the impact of the integration of certain Spirit AeroSystems work packages:
Source: Airbus
Photo Credit: Airbus
Ireland – Atlantic Flight Training Academy (AFTA), a leading European flight training organisation, has welcomed its first Integrated Class of 2025. The class includes cadets enrolled in the Ab-Initio Ryanair Future Flyer Academy, ASL Airlines, and VistaJet mentored pilot training programmes. Over the next 18 months, the cadets will undergo comprehensive training at AFTA to qualify as commercial pilots.
Source: Atlantic Flight Training Academy
Photo Credit: Atlantic Flight Training Academy
