Patria to move part of civilian pilot training to Cordoba in Spain
Patria has decided to relocate their initial civil pilot training operations from Tampere-Pirkkala, Finland to city of Córdoba in Spain. Patria’s single-engine DA40 fleet will be based in Córdoba while theoretical training, simulator training and multi-engine training with DA42 fleet will remain in Finland. Patria’s aircraft maintenance operations at its current Tampere-Pirkkala base are expected to increase after the move, as modern hangar space will become available there.
"The purpose of the move is to secure Patria´s planned growth in commercial pilot training business. Our main driver was to take advantage of favourable weather conditions in Spain, which allows efficient pilot training throughout the year. This improves utilization of Patria´s fleet a great deal. Our goal is to increase our training capacity with existing fleet to become better equipped for increasing demand from our international airline partners”, says Jyrki Myyryläinen, Vice President of Patria´s Aviation training business.
"First staff members will be stationed in Córdoba in May 2019 to prepare for the start of our operations there. During previous winter, a week-long proof of concept exercise was carried out in Córdoba to test the operational environment and infrastructure under actual training conditions. After the exercise we became assured that Córdoba is not only an efficient environment for initial pilot training, but also provides us a platform for safe year-round training according to our plans", continues Myyryläinen.
Patria´s operation in Córdoba will start during summer 2019. The first students to initiate their flight training in Spain will be Patria´s ab-initio group earmarked for Finnish feeder Nordic Regional Airlines. Training in Spain will be supervised and audited by the Finnish Transport and Communications Authority Traficom. Aircraft maintenance in Spain is will be outsourced to a local subcontractor.
Further information:
Jyrki Myyryläinen, Vice President, Training, Aviation business unit, tel. +358 40 869 3315, [email protected]
Patria is an international provider of defence, security and aviation life cycle support services and technology solutions. Patria provides its aerospace and military customers with equipment availability, continuous performance development as well as selected intelligence, surveillance and management system products and services. Patria’s mission is to give its customers confidence in all conditions, and the vision is to be the #1 partner for critical operations. Patria has several locations including Finland, Sweden, Norway and Estonia. Net sales totaled EUR 476.1 million in 2018, and Patria employs 2,800 professionals. Patria is owned by the State of Finland (50.1%) and Norwegian Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS (49.9%). Patria owns 50% of Norwegian Nammo, and together these three companies form a leading Nordic defence partnership.
