Ryanair set to house jet simulators at new hub near airport
RYANAIR will house two Boeing 737 Max simulators at a new multimillion-euro centre of excellence near Dublin Airport.
Planning files show the premises will have four full-motion simulators installed – two for the Max and two for the Airbus A320. The Airbus jets are used by the Ryanair subsidiary Lauda.
The new centre in Dublin will require an investment of tens of millions of euros by Ryanair, which is led by Michael O’Leary.
Each new full-motion simulator costs around €14m (£11.9m).
There will be a further two fixed-base simulators at the centre of excellence.
The project will be expensive to fit out because it includes a full-motion simulator communications room, training rooms, an archive store and other facilities.
The centre will be located at the Woodford Business Park, a short distance from the airport and Ryanair’s headquarters in Swords.
To bring the dream to fruition, the company will amalgamate two adjoining buildings.
One of those units was put up for sale last year with a €2m (£1.7m) asking price and is understood to have been sold to Ryanair. The other is thought to have been let to the airline.
Ryanair submitted initial plans for the centre to the local council last October but was told in December to revise them and provide more car-parking spaces for the facility.
Airlines have been vying to secure access to Max simulators after Boeing endorsed simulator training for pilots.
One of the original selling points of the troubled Max jet was that pilots of Boeing’s 737 NG aircraft would not need simulator training to fly the Max.