The airBaltic training center buzzed audibly with Italian, Spanish and Scandinavian languages when LTV reporter Linda Krūmiņa paid her visit. Luckily, corporate communications vice president Jānis Vanags managed to squeeze her into a simulator module during a two-minute break between clients. The impressive units are booked round the clock seven days a week, says Vanags, with training sessions lasting a realistic four-hour term during which a high-resolution cockpit screen and technical assurance of actual feelings of turbulence and other extreme flight conditions have made Rīga a top spot for aviation training.
“Eighty percent of these professionals learning here are from beyond the Baltic region, elsewhere around the world,” said Vanags.
Last year airBaltic trained aviation professionals from over 30 countries, not just pilots, but all other kinds of airline personnel, from crews to executives, ticket agents to ground service experts. airBaltic’s own staff pilots renew their training here every six months, but the flight safety learning programs are essential for all employees in the industry, Vanags explained.
While aviation professionals from eastern states appreciate the state-of-the-art facilities offering certification for them, western aviation industry representatives like the friendly prices for such high-tech services.
In the last five years the airBaltic training center has served more than 20,000 aviation professionals from around the world, a number which keeps growing 24 hours a day.
