Türkiye – Turkish Airlines Flight Academy (TAFA), the ab initio pilot training arm of Turkish Airlines, has concluded 2025 surpassing its key operational goals, posting strong year‑on‑year growth across student enrollment, graduate output, flight hours and training infrastructure capacity, — underscoring sustained expansion and training effectiveness within one of the world’s leading airline owned flight training operations.

• Active student numbers grew from 456 in January 2025 to 600 by December 2025, reflecting a 32% increase
• TAFA graduated 351 pilots in 2025, a 25% increase over 280 in 2024, while average graduation time slightly extended from 14.1 months to 14.9 months
• TAFA logged a total of 89,550 flight hours in 2025, marking a 30% increase compared with 68,895 hours in 2024
• The academy expanded its operational fleet to 84 aircraft in 2025, a 71% increase over 49 in 2024
• TAFA doubled its simulator infrastructure, operating 8 simulators in 2025 — up from 4 in 2024
• The number of flying instructors rose modestly from 75 in 2024 to 81 in 2025, reflecting a 9% increase to sustain higher training activity.

Statement

• “We will end 2025 not only with the record increase in our flight hours and our corporate growth; We have completed this process with the pride of managing our flight safety and operational efficiency principles without compromising our principles. This success is not a coincidence, but the result of a team spirit. I would like to thank the architects of this strong picture in our academy: To our General Manager Fatih ÜNALAN Bey, who has drawn our strategic route with his visionary leadership and has always guided us in our operational excellence goals” stated Muhammed Esref Basyigit, Human Resource and Corporate Communications Manager at TAFA.

Source: Turkish Airlines Flight Academy
Photo Credit: Turkish Airlines Flight Academy