Airbus, ANA launch global cadet pilot training hub in Portugal

Airbus and All Nippon Airways (ANA) have launched a new ab initio pilot training programme in Portugal, positioning the country as a strategic hub for developing the Japanese carrier’s next generation of pilots amid an intensifying global talent shortage.

Strategic agreement targets long-term pilot demand

Publicly available information from Airbus indicates that the agreement with ANA creates a comprehensive, multi-year training pipeline designed to take candidates with no prior flying experience all the way to commercial pilot qualification. The collaboration builds on almost four decades of partnership between the manufacturer and the Japanese airline and extends Airbus’s role from aircraft supplier and services provider into foundational pilot development for the ANA Group.

Reports on the new programme highlight that it is framed against Airbus’s latest Global Services Forecast, which anticipates demand for around 633,000 new pilots worldwide over the next 20 years. A significant share of that requirement is expected in the Asia-Pacific region, where ANA is one of the largest full-service carriers. The shared training initiative is positioned as a response to that structural shortage rather than a short-term capacity move.

Under the agreement, ANA cadets will enter a standardised Airbus flight training ecosystem from their first day in a cockpit. According to published programme material, trainees progress through an integrated syllabus built around Airbus competency-based training principles, modern training tools and harmonised procedures that are intended to match what they will later encounter on airline flight decks.

Sevenair Academy in Portugal becomes key training base

The ab initio programme for ANA will be delivered at Sevenair Academy in Ponte de Sor, in central Portugal. Airbus and Sevenair formalised their wider partnership in late 2025, when the Portuguese school joined the Airbus Flight Academy network as a key European training site. That agreement expanded Airbus’s ab initio footprint and confirmed Portugal as one of the core locations in the manufacturer’s global pilot training strategy.

Sevenair Academy is described in official material as one of Europe’s largest flight training organisations, with a fleet of around 40 aircraft, including both single and multi-engine types equipped with modern avionics suites. The campus, which spans roughly 30,000 square metres, combines hangars, classrooms, briefing rooms, simulators and accommodation in a single site intended to replicate an airline-style operating environment.

Airbus promotional information about the Portugal training site cites more than 300 days of sunshine annually and varied but generally predictable weather as key advantages for consistent year-round flying. The airspace around Ponte de Sor offers relatively low traffic density, while controlled international airports are reachable nearby, giving cadets exposure to a mix of straightforward and more complex operating conditions.

From zero experience to frozen ATPL in an Airbus ecosystem

The ANA cadet pathway in Portugal aligns with the Airbus Pilot Cadet Training Programme and its EASA-based integrated Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPi) structure. According to detailed programme descriptions, participants follow a sequence that typically includes initial theoretical instruction, basic single-engine flying, instrument and multi-engine training, advanced upset prevention and recovery training, and jet orientation and multi-crew cooperation courses.

On completion, cadets obtain what is commonly referred to as a “frozen” ATPL: a commercial pilot licence with completed airline transport theory credits, multi-engine instrument rating and advanced simulator-based training modules. Airbus documentation notes that this qualification is designed to prepare graduates to move directly into type rating training on specific aircraft and, subject to airline selection, into first officer roles.

By embedding ANA’s trainees in the Airbus network at the earliest stage, the programme creates a single, coherent training philosophy from cadet level through to type rating and recurrent training. Airbus materials emphasise that this unified approach is intended to produce pilots who are familiar with the manufacturer’s standard operating concepts, threat and error management frameworks and crew resource management practices before they ever join an airline line-training programme.

Global training network positions Portugal as a hub

The move to train ANA pilots in Portugal draws on a training network that Airbus has expanded in recent years to include multiple ab initio and advanced locations. Company information indicates that the Airbus Flight Academy network now spans more than 20 sites, with Portugal joining France and Tunisia as core bases for integrated cadet training alongside a wider system of Airbus Training Centres focused on type ratings and advanced courses.

Within that network, Sevenair’s Portuguese campus functions as a European gateway for international cadets, now including ANA’s first intake of 19 trainees scheduled to start later in 2026. As additional cohorts follow, ANA’s presence is expected to add a distinctly Asia-Pacific dimension to a school that already attracts students from across Europe, Latin America and other regions through Airbus’s own cadet programmes and airline partnerships.

Industry coverage notes that concentrating training at Airbus-standardised schools allows airlines to scale pilot development while maintaining consistent quality benchmarks. For ANA, placing cadets in Portugal gives access to established infrastructure and instructor teams while avoiding bottlenecks at more congested training markets closer to home, all within a regulatory framework recognised by many global carriers.

Implications for airlines and aspiring pilots

The launch of the ANA programme in Portugal illustrates how airlines are increasingly turning to manufacturer-led training ecosystems to secure future flight crew. Airbus data on exam pass rates and graduate placement from its existing cadet programmes is used to position the model as a lower-risk pathway for both airlines and aspiring pilots, particularly given the significant financial and time investment required to reach commercial licence level.

For prospective pilots, the ANA agreement underlines the growing prominence of integrated training schemes that combine airline sponsorship, manufacturer-designed curricula and internationally recognised licences. While each airline partnership has its own entry criteria and selection process, the underlying structure showcased in Portugal highlights how cadet pilots can move from initial screening to line operations through a single, closely managed pipeline.

For Portugal’s aviation sector, the decision to base ANA’s new training programme at Ponte de Sor reinforces the country’s positioning as an international education hub within Europe’s pilot training landscape. With long-term demand projections suggesting that pilot shortages will remain a strategic concern for airlines worldwide, the Airbus–ANA collaboration signals that global carriers are likely to deepen similar cross-border training partnerships in the years ahead.

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