14 May 2019: L3 Commercial Aviation is widening its UK Airline Academy operations with a new site at Cranfield Airport which is set to open in July 2019. The location will increase L3's flight training capacity for cadets across its European training programmes.
"This investment will help to improve both the quality and capacity of our world-leading pilot training," said Geoff van Klaveren, Vice President of L3 Airline Academy. "With its existing infrastructure, heritage in aviation and strong network with the industry, we believe that Cranfield represents an attractive location to expand our UK training capacity."
"We welcome L3 to Cranfield University's global research airport," said Rob Abbott, Cranfield Airport's Director. "We have an established track record of working with international companies to bring investment and employment to the region through world-class education and research. In L3, Cranfield Airport has a partner engaging not just in the basic principles of academy training but with a clear strategy for pilots of the future."
L3 will operate more than 12 aircraft at Cranfield Airport by the end of 2019, providing training capacity for over 50 cadets. This represents another major investment from L3 into the UK. The site will have created over 27 dedicated permanent jobs within the local economy by the end of the year.