With Emirates expecting to receive Airbus A350 aircraft soon, it has invested more than $45 million in state-of-the-art training equipment for pilots and cabin crew. The airline has dozens of A350s on order as it looks to upgrade its fleet for future operations.
Cutting-edge training equipment
Emirates
has spent $48 million on full suites of equipment and systems to help train its pilots and cabin crew for Airbus A350 operations. The announcement comes as the airline prepares to welcome the new aircraft to its fleet.
The suites include three full-flight simulators that offer innovative pilot support systems (PSS), a fixed base training device, a cabin emergency evacuation trainer, and a door trainer. Capt Bader Al Marzooqi, Emirates’ Senior Vice President Flight Training, commented,
“Spearheading innovation is at the core of Emirates’ DNA, and that is reflected in our newly acquired A350 training equipment suites and our advanced pilot training facility set to open later in the year. We’re proud that we now have the potential to expand our pilot training capacity by 54%. With our investments in the new simulators and systems, our pilots and cabin crew are equipped, trained and supremely confident to manage any operational challenge safely and competently.”
Photo: Emirates
The training system is unique because it was conceptualized in-house by Emirates, which wanted to optimize the training for its crew. The airline explains that during the briefing phase, the PSS lets “trainees carry out an interactive flight deck set-up, including building a flight plan, in a fully immersive environment.”
Once the trainees move inside the simulator, the setup is recalled so they can resume their training. The instructor can also playback recorded sessions in the PSS’ debrief mode to review crew performances.
Emirates is preparing well in advance of its A350 operations. Around 30 of its pilots and 820 cabin crew members have already undergone training. Fifty additional pilots will have completed their training on the A350 full-flight simulators by November before the aircraft enters service.
Photo: Emirates
EASA approval
Emirates’ new training system has even received the stamp of approval of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency ( EASA
). The agency has given it a level D qualification, the highest for this type of simulator. Emirates has said that the initial qualification was achieved with zero findings, which is considered to be impressive in the simulator industry.
Overall, the carrier has ordered three full-flight simulators for its A350 fleet. The second one is currently in its onsite acceptance stage, with the EASA expected to grant approval in November. Indeed, Emirates’ A350 pilots are expected to get world-class training as the A350 fixed-base training device replicates the flight deck, using visual and audio systems to make training sessions as realistic as possible.

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Fleet evolution
Emirates currently operates a fleet comprising Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 aircraft for its scheduled flights worldwide. However, for the first time in many years, a new aircraft type will enter its fleet, as the airline has placed an order for 65 A350s.
Photo: Airbus
The carrier has also ordered a mix of Boeing 777X, and together, these planes are expected to carry out operations for Emirates in the coming years.