27 March 2025
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Pilot’s switch their uniforms to Black Tie and Evening Dresses to honour AFTA’s 30 Years in Business at Cork Airport – AFTA have trained over 2,800 Pilots since its launch with a single aircraft in 1995
Over 100 Pilot’s from across the world flew into Cork International Airport last weekend to attend a Black Tie – Aviation Ball, hosted by Atlantic Flight Training Academy to celebrate it’s 30 year Business Anniversary operating at Cork airport and mark the vital role that it has played in the global aviation industry, supplying highly skilled pilots to leading airlines and operators worldwide.
AFTA was founded by Captain Mark Casey in March 1995 with a Single Aircraft Piper Seneca (EI-CMT) and 30 years on from these modest beginning’s the Cork-Headquartered Flight Training Academy has since trained an impressive roll-call of two thousand eight hundred (2,800) Pilots, expanded its fleet to 26 aircraft and invested in multiple flight simulators, including the state-of-the-art Boeing 737NG and Boeing Max 8200 simulators, as well as, three survey aircraft .
It was a day of double celebrations for staff and new cadet’s, as in addition to AFTA’s 30 anniversary year in business, the milestone event also included the graduation ceremony for the Class of 2023-2024 cadets, with many families of overseas students also travelling to Cork to see their family members graduate and these cadets will soon embark on their careers flying with the world’s leading airlines.
Since its foundation 30 years ago, AFTA has earned a world renowned reputation for delivering Excellence in pilot training through a variety of pilot training mentorship programmes in partnership with leading world airlines, including Ryanair, Air Astana, as well as, AFTA’s operator partners, ASL Airlines Ireland, VistaJet and Globe Air.
In addition to these popular Pilot Mentorship/Future Flyer Pilot programmes, AFTA also train’s commercial pilots for the airline industry in partnership with Munster Technological University (MTU) and the 30th year anniversary event was attended by many MTU colleagues, as well as, senior representatives from AFTA’s airline partners, Ryanair and Air Astana along with guests from Cork airport, the DAA and across the aviation industry. AFTA also praised the supportive role of its non-airline partners over the past 30 years including, the IAA, the DAA, AIRNAV, Enterprise Ireland and representing the French Ambassador, Hon. Consul of France in Cork, Josselin Le Gall.
Sean Kelly, Ireland South MEP, who was guest of honour at the event, hosted at the Radisson Blu hotel in Little Island, Cork, commended Mark Casey, AFTA CEO and his team for 30 years in business at Cork airport and spoke about AFTA’s Pilot training partnerships with leading world airlines, such as, Ryanair ,Air Astana and VistaJet, as well as, the Academy’s leadership in sustainable aviation pilot training and fleet conversion programme to SAF-fuelled aircraft, investment in new flight Simulators, and a fleet of modern fuel efficient training aircraft.
AFTA has also been shortlisted for the Sustainable Initiative Award at the Pilot Careers Live Awards 2025 in London. It is the first EASA-approved flight training academy in Europe to embed Sustainability and Environmental awareness into every stage of pilot education. The academy has set an ambitious goal of converting its entire fleet to SAF-compatible power plants in the coming years.
In a speech to the Class of 2023/2024 graduating Cadets, AFTA founder and CEO, Captain Mark Casey, said:
“Becoming a pilot requires determination, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. You should be incredibly proud of what you have achieved. This is just the beginning of an exciting career, and we have no doubt you will go on to accomplish great things.”
Captain Casey also praised and acknowledged the support of AFTA’s staff and partners over the past 30 years in business, referring to some memorable personal business advice he received early in his own career, while working for Sir Richard Branson – ‘Value the people who work for you.’
“The great people we have within AFTA is certainly the secret of our success, I would like to take the time to acknowledge your contribution towards AFTA’s success.
‘It must be said that there is no doubt that AFTA would not be at the scale it is without the success, support and growth of our airline partner’s over the past 30 years. The aviation powerhouse that is Ryanair continues to go from strength to strength, Ryanair has been a huge supporter of AFTA since its inception and we are ever grateful for the continued cadet programmes we offer as a partner school in the Ryanair future flyer academy. We have been joined at the hip for 30 years and it is often said internally, we share the same DNA.
Our Global partners Air Astana, VistaJet and ASL are invaluable to AFTA and we are eternally grateful for their support. Air Astana, (the largest airline group in Central Asia and the Caucasus), which is our longest airline partner, and we are proud to have trained hundreds of pilots for this prestigious national carrier who continue to grow from strength to strength.
While AFTA is reliant on our Airline partners , all our non – airlines partners are equally as important. these include the IAA, our university partner MTU, the DAA, Cork Airport, AIRNAV, Representing the French Ambassador, Hon. Consul of France in Cork, Josselin Le Gall and Enterprise Ireland and all the external regulatory bodies we work closely with.
Without their continued support we could not educate the next generation of airline pilots successfully.”
AFTA 30th Anniversary Event attendee’s included
In a reflection of AFTA’s renowned reputation for excellence in commercial pilot training, an impressive list of aviation industry leaders and key decision makers from world airlines, as well as,
non-airline partners, including, aviation regulatory bodies and academia attended AFTA’s 30 year anniversary, guest’s included: Sean Kelly MEP and Juliette Kelly, Mike O’Brien and Angelo Currao, Ryanair,Tony Regan and Filppos Slakkas, (Air Astana), Adrian Dunne, (Aer Lingus), Steve Scully (ASL Airlines Ireland) John Murray and Sean Bennett, (IAA), John Dary, (AAIU), Roy O’Driscoll, (Cork Airport), as well as, AFTA’s MTU academic partners – Dr. Pio Fenton, Dr. Katie Power, Dr. Rose Leahy and Dr. Tim Crowley.
About Atlantic Flight Training Academy (AFTA)
Atlantic Flight Training Academy, founded in 1995, is Ireland’s largest – and one of Europe’s leading – Independent Flight Training Organisations. The Academy is approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and UK Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA) and is headquartered at Cork International Airport with a secondary base at Waterford Airport.
The Academy has been training international cadets since 1995, with contracts including ASL Ireland, Ryanair, Air Astana, VistaJet, GlobeAir, Pegasus Airlines, Turkish Airlines & many more.
The academy is equipped with a modern training fleet and boasts state-of-the-art aircraft such as the Diamond DA42 Next Generation as well as Boeing 737 800 NG and the newly delivered Boeing 737-8200 (MAX) simulator. AFTA has an unrivalled success rate and have trained in excess of 2,800 high-calibre pilot graduates for commercial airlines since the business was founded in 1995.