Al Amn Magazine # 161

33 MARCH 2023 programmes, with a focus on qualifying pilots, flight attendants, flight engineers, maintenance specialists and logistics services in air navigation. It offers courses for pilots on several types of aircraft, including Airbus and Embraer, as well as courses for cabin crew and engineers and air traffic controllers. The academy trained 2,994 trainees in 2019 but the number fell to 1,500 during 2020 and 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This year, however, registration has reached 2,000 trainees per month. A total of 18 airlines from within and outside Bahrain have benefitted from the academy’s programmes and intensive training courses. Its total utilization capacity is 60 per cent. Sixty-five percent of the income it generates comes from outside Bahrain and the rest from within the country. Sixty per cent of the trainees are from outside the country while the rest are from Bahrain. The academy has agreements with three prestigious companies globally to bring the latest air simulators and other equipment necessary for air and non-air training. The total volume of investments in the academy since its inception is more than $70 million, the majority of which was invested in the purchase of simulators. The cost of training per hour in the simulator is the equivalent of $500 and is $4,800 for a full 8-hour period. The academy provides formal and electronic education, focussing on the development of programmes related to aviation and related support sectors, with the addition of new programmes, the most important of which are virtual reality, digital education and e-training to reach the largest number of beneficiaries and keep abreast of developments in the world of training and advanced technology. This is also one of the first aviation academies in the region to obtain approval to conduct the exams for aviation programmes electronically during the pandemic. The academy is in the process of expanding outside Bahrain with its intention to open two branches in neighboring countries,