Atlantic Flight Training Academy (AFTA)

Atlantic Flight Training Academy (AFTA) is an Irish airline pilot academy headquartered at Cork Airport, founded in 1995 and celebrating thirty years of training in 2025. An EASA-approved ATO overseen by the Irish Aviation Authority, it has trained more than 2,700 pilots whose careers span Ryanair, Aer Lingus, easyJet, British Airways and major Gulf carriers, making it one of Ireland's longest-established routes to the airlines.

Training at AFTA

AFTA runs an integrated ATPL programme of around eighteen months alongside modular routes, with flying delivered from Cork Airport and its full-time satellite base at Waterford Airport. It is an official partner ATO for the Ryanair Future Flyer Academy, under which cadets receive a conditional offer of employment from Ryanair before training begins and progress through roughly 220 flight hours to a Boeing 737 type rating, as part of a scheme targeting around 400 cadets over four years. The academy also runs mentored programmes with ASL Airlines Ireland and VistaJet, offers a degree pathway with Munster Technological University, and in 2025 reportedly welcomed trainees transferring from the closed Acron Aviation academy at Cranfield.

Selection for the Ryanair Future Flyer route begins with computer-based aptitude and psychometric testing online, followed by an assessment day in Cork covering mathematics, physics, a group exercise and interview. With a conditional airline job offer riding on the outcome before a single flying hour is logged, candidates who have practised pilot aptitude and airline-style assessments beforehand give themselves a genuine advantage at the stage that matters most.