Leisure airline opens new purpose-built training centre in £8.5m investment

Leisure airline, Jet2.com, has opened an £8.5m training centre in Cheadle, near Manchester Airport.

The new centre builds on the success of the Leeds-based company’s first training centre near Bradford, which opened in 2014.

In addition to creating a dozen full-time positions, the new purpose-built centre enables Jet2.com to underpin its growth ambitions by training thousands of colleagues every year.

The state-of-the-art centre will provide a bespoke centre of excellence for new and current pilots, engineers, cabin crew and ground operations colleagues.

The three-storey facility will house full and fixed-base flight simulators, cabin crew trainer units, engineering training devices to enact real-life scenarios, high tech Computer Based Training (CBT) rooms, fully equipped classrooms and briefing rooms.

Jet2 plc, the Leisure Travel group which encompasses the leisure airline Jet2.com, and Jet2holidays, has outlined its plans to grow sustainably and expand its fleet in line with the demand for package holidays and flights.

The group has 98 firm ordered Airbus A320/A321 neo (new engine option) aircraft, which could eventually extend up to 146 aircraft.

Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, said: “Today’s exciting announcement is the latest stage on our growth journey and is another demonstration of our commitment to investing in our successful business.

“This fantastic new facility complements our existing training centre and enables us to train and develop our award-winning teams as we grow, so that our flight deck, cabin crew, ground operations and engineering teams can continue to provide the first class experience that our customers have come to know.”