Four partners signed a declaration of intent on setting up a pilot training center in Debrecen, at a ceremony held on Friday. The document was signed by senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the University of Debrecen, Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air and Debrecen-based Pharma-Flight scientific and service center in Budapest.
Péter Szijjártó, state secretary of Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade told the press before signing the declaration that a lot of knowledge had been accumulated in pilot training and aviation, so now they join forces to set up a pilot training center that may become an East Central European center in the future. The basic training program would be determined by the end of 2014. The new program would start next year with 15-month training courses for 40 cadets. Graduated pilots will be employed by Wizz Air and, according to the projections, half of the students will be Hungarian. Close cooperation was established with the company after the Hungarian airlines, Malév had gone bankrupt, because the Government wanted to compensate for the lack of competitiveness.
Diederik Pen, Chief Operations Officer of Wizz Air emphasized that the airlines would acquire ten new aircrafts in the coming year, and they need more pilots.
Debrecen Mayor Lajos Kósa said that if the program would meet the expectations then pilots from Central Europe could also be trained in Debrecen, and the city has prepared for that. He added that the aviation industry needs technicians as well, not only pilots.
Zoltán Szilvássy, Dean of the University of Debrecen emphasized that the most successful programs in the history of the university were designed in cooperation with the city, the industry and the market.
György Czirják, Director of Pharma-Flight said that they have Airbus A320 and Boeing-737 simulators, and they also operate a medical center where various tests can be carried out.