Emirates Flight Training Academy took delivery of its first two Cirrus SR22 G6 training aircraft in Dubai on Thursday.
The planes are the first of the 22 single-piston engine Cirrus aircraft that have been ordered by the Academy which was developed by Emirates to train beginner pilots.
The aircraft landed in Dubai after a transatlantic journey spanning over 13,000 kilometres which had to be split into multiple segments due to the size of the aircraft, the fuel tanks and the aircraft's range.
The planes began their journeys from Cirrus’ manufacturing facilities in the US and were flown from Duluth, Minnesota to Knoxville, Tennessee - the location of Cirrus’ aircraft delivery centre.
Once at the delivery centre, the aircraft were inspected and teams from Cirrus and Emirates Flight Training Academy went through a series of pre-flight appearance, functionality checks and test flights.
The two Cirrus planes then embarked on an 11-stop transatlantic journey transiting through 10 countries flying an average of over 5 hours a day.
Flying out from Knoxville, the aircraft stopped at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, then at Sept Iles and Iqaluit in Canada.
From Iqaluit the two aircraft set out to cross the Atlantic Ocean in two stretches, stopping first at Nuuk in Greenland, then at Reykjavik in Iceland. They completed the transatlantic sector at Wick in Scotland. Those flights were the longest segments in the aircraft’s journey from the US to Dubai.
Once in Europe, the two aircraft made their way from Scotland to Sywell in Northamptonshire in England, and from there on to Venice, Crete, Aqaba, Bahrain and finally to Dubai.
All the flights were carried out in daylight hours and the two aircraft flew in loose formation throughout the entire journey, allowing for easier air traffic clearances.
The Cirrus SR22 G6 aircraft will form the backbone of the training fleet of the Emirates Flight Training Academy, reported state news agency WAM.
In addition to the 22 Cirrus SR22 G6 aircraft, Emirates Flight Training Academy has also placed an order for five twin-jet Embraer Phenom 100EV aircraft, becoming the first flight training organisation to use the Phenom 100EV platform for training cadets.
The Emirates Flight Training Academy, located near Dubai World Central airport in Dubai South, is scheduled to open in November 2017.