The Canadian aviation training provider CAE will close its pilot training center at Brussels Airport at the end of this year. The company, which has been operating at a loss, confirmed this in discussions with the unions.

Brussels Airlines, which had all its pilots trained at the center, has found alternatives abroad.

Active in Brussels since 2008

CAE, which has been operating at Brussels Airport since 2008 and was the direct successor to the historic Sabena Flight Academy, had already announced its intention to close in April, but the plans are now final. 22 people will be laid off, and a severance package has been agreed on.

The impending closure will affect airlines that sent pilots to CAE in Steenokkerzeel for training, particularly Brussels Airlines, as the airline’s approximately 640 pilots attended various training courses there each year.

Amsterdam and Frankfurt as alternatives

But Brussels Airlines has now found alternatives. Training for pilots of the Airbus A320 family will take place in the Netherlands (at CAE Amsterdam), while pilots of the A330 aircraft will use the parent group’s training center, Lufthansa, in Frankfurt.

Brussels Airlines still has a pilot training program in Belgium. It trains future pilots or cadets in collaboration with the Antwerp-based flight school Skywings Flight Training.