Middle East and Europe – Wissam Mehyou, CEO of Intercontinental Aviation Enterprise (IAE) – a holding group with pilot training offering subsidiaries, shared insights on the company’s long-term training vision, expansion plans, and the challenges of building structured aviation education pipelines during a recent media interview.

• Current flight training bases/partnerships: Lebanon, Cyprus, Greece and later this year in the United Arab Emirates

• Expansion plans:

  • 5th flying base to open in Portugal in 2026 to serve Western Europe and North Africa.

  • New base planned in Saudi Arabia in Q1 2027

• University partnerships:

  • First milestone partnership signed with Al-Faisal University, Saudi Arabia.

  • Additional agreements underway in Iraq, Lebanon, UAE, and Cyprus, with plans to scale globally to 32 ground school bases by 2030.

  • Students will complete initial ground school at partner universities before transitioning to IAE’s flight bases, merging professional training with academic diplomas in aviation management.

Statements:

• “Every time we open a new base, it’s because the previous one reached full capacity, and we’ve saturated the space and can’t take more students. That demand pushes us to open new regions.” shared Mr Mehyou.
• In regards to University partnership’s he mentions “The second partnership will be announced next month in Iraq, followed in Lebanon, the UAE, and Cyprus.“

Source: Intercontinental Aviation Academy