Portugal's International Flight Academy Receives ANAC Certification for FTD.aero Boeing 737 MAX Simulator

Portugal – EASA Approved Training Organisation International Flight Academy (IFA) has announced certification by Portugal's Autoridade Nacional da Aviação Civil (ANAC) of its FTD.aero Boeing 737 MAX simulator at its Viseu base, allowing the academy to begin MCC and Airline Pilot Standards Multi-Crew Cooperation (APS MCC) courses on the device.

• IFA describes the fixed-base device as an FNPT II configured for MCC and APS MCC training.
• IFA's current APS MCC programme now provides students with two aircraft environments:
  • Airbus A320 — Lisbon/Cascais.
  • Boeing 737 MAX — Viseu.
    The academy states that pilots can select either platform for its APS MCC pathway.
• IFA's published APS MCC syllabus comprises 86 hours of theoretical instruction and 42 hours of FNPT II simulator training. The simulator phase includes 20 hours of MCC training, 12 hours of advanced swept-wing jet training, eight hours of airline operations scenario training and a two-hour final assessment.
• The academy's standard MCC programme comprises 25 hours of theory and 20 hours of simulator instruction across five sessions.
• The B737 MAX device was manufactured by Poland-based FTD.aero.
• IFA states that it is now the only Portuguese ATO where students can choose between Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 MAX environments for MCC or APS MCC training.
• The certification completes a development process that began in 2025. FTD.aero announced IFA's B73M FNPT II MCC order in July 2025, completed the Factory Acceptance Test in January 2026 and installed the device in Viseu in February ahead of the ANAC approval process.
• IFA currently operates from three Portuguese bases in Cascais, Viseu and Braga. The academy's published aircraft types include Pipistrel Virus, Velis Electro and Explorer aircraft, Cessna 152 and 172 variants and the Grumman GA7.

Source: International Flight Academy