Wizz Air, Europe's fastest growing and most environmentally sustainable airline globally, has become the first airline to implement both the Mobile Airbus Training experience (MATe) solution and the Virtual Procedure Trainer technology ( VPT) for pilot training.
The integration of both training solutions at Wizz Air's training center in Budapest will support pilots undergoing initial and recurrent training for the aircraft type through the combined advantages of the MATe suite and the Virtual Procedure Trainer.
Mobile Airbus Training experience (MATe) and Virtual Procedure Trainer (VPT)
While MATe is a cloud-based service platform with e-Training and exams for various categories of pilot training, Virtual Procedure Trainer is an innovative software solution that trains trainee pilots in an individual virtual cockpit, enabling them to repeat or familiarize themselves with Airbus cockpit features and procedures.
The VR tool and the A320 Type Transition Course program (based on the use of the MATe tool) have been approved by the Hungarian Civil Aviation Authority. It will enable Wizz Air to train pilots to the standards set by Wizz Air's Approved Training Organization (ATO). The virtual reality-based training features were presented to the industry at Wizz Air's training center in Budapest on March 20. Wizz Air opened its first training center in Budapest in 2013, with a full A320 flight simulator and classrooms. The airline has since opened a new training center in Budapest in 2018 and will open another in Rome this year.
The training centers are equipped with three Airbus A320 Full Flight Simulators, A320 Fixed Base Simulators, Cabin Evacuation Trainers and Fire Trainers. Virtual training solutions from Airbus are the latest additions to the Wizz Air training center in Budapest.
Wizz Air is targeting continued growth and the airline plans to train 4.000 cabin crew and take delivery of 300 new A321neo and A321XLR aircraft by 2030 to meet its targets.