Etihad Flight College expands its fleet

Etihad Flight College Cadet Pilots and their instructors alongside the new Embraer Phenom 100E

Etihad Flight College has recently taken delivery of the first of four Embraer Phenom 100E.
This will be the first flight school in the world to use the Phenom 100E in the initial phase of flying training.

The twin jet training aircraft will begin service with the flight college in July 2016. A second aircraft will arrive in Al Ain later this month. Two further jets will be delivered in early 2017.

The Phenom will be used to instruct students on the Multi-Crew Pilot Licence (MPL) course. MPL is an competency based approach to flying training using multi-engine aircraft.

The ferry flight, via four continents and covering over 12,500 miles, was commanded by Etihad Flight College’s MPL program manager, senior first officer Timothy Schoenauer. The 18 sector route from Brazil went via two Caribbean islands, Florida, Virginia, Maine, Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland, Belfast, Amsterdam, Italy, Greece, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, before arriving Al Ain.

The order for four Embraer Phenom 100E was announced in June 2015. Once delivered, the four new aircraft will bring number of aircraft in the trainer fleet to 22 – which also includes 10 Cessna 172SP Skyhawk, six Diamond DA42NG, and two EXTRA 300 aircraft.



There are 186 cadet pilots currently in Etihad Flight College training programmes, 122 of whom are Emiratis. In addition to training pilots for Etihad Airways, Etihad Flight College also trains pilots for two Etihad equity partner airlines – Alitalia and Air Seychelles. Etihad Airways currently employs over 2,200 pilots and operates a fleet of 122 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, with over 204 additional aircraft on firm order.

Etihad Flight College orders Embraer Phenom jets

São José dos Campos, Brazil, June 23, 2015 – Embraer Executive Jets announced today that Etihad Flight College, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has signed a purchase agreement for four Phenom 100E jets, and options for three additional aircraft of the same model.

Based on current list prices the deal is valued at about USD 30 million, if all options are exercised, and deliveries of the aircraft to Etihad Flight College will start in the first quarter of 2016.

The delivery of the four new Embraer Phenom 100E jets will bring to 20 the number of aircraft in the trainer fleet, which is currently composed of 16 single-engine propeller airplanes.

“We are very pleased with the selection of the Phenom 100E by Etihad Flight College,” said Marco Túlio Pellegrini, President and CEO, Embraer Executive Jets. “The Phenom 100E has proven to be the ideal aircraft for jet pilot training, delivering advanced cockpit technology, along with high performance and high reliability, at a low operating cost.”

“As the national airline of the UAE, it is vital for us to establish a world-class training facility to support the training and manpower development of the local Emirati workforce, while also providing a source of well-trained, highly-skilled pilots for our growing operations.” said Richard Hill, Etihad Airways’ Chief Operations Officer. "The Phenom 100E’s airline-grade technology, performance and reliability make it an ideal initial training platform to prepare our cadets for line operations."

Based in Al Ain, the Etihad Flight College is the first organization in the world to use multi-engine aircraft in the core phase of its MPL training program, and provides training for up to 120 Emirati and international cadets annually.