Fifth Air Astana Ab-Initio cadet progresses to reach captain

Air Astana’s ab-intio pilot training programme continues to deliver positive crew development results.

Air Astana’s ab-intio pilot training programme continues to deliver positive crew development results, with Roman Suleimanov being the fifth of the earliest cadets to have progressed through the system and be be promoted to Captain after six years of flying. In doing so, he joins Talgat Akhmetov, Viktor Chugay, Berdykhan Agmurov, and Timur Turgambayev.

The airline’s Ab-Initio programme was launched in 2009, with a total investment of US$24million being made in the programme over the past eight years. A total of 183 students have successfully graduated since the programme was launched, with 168 of them now flying the airline’s Boeing, Airbus and Embraer aircraft.

There are currently 14 students enrolled on the Ab-Initio programme, with another four cadets scheduled to start the 18 month programme at the Atlantic Flight Training Academy (AFTA) in Cork, Ireland later this month. There are also plans for two more groups to start the programme at AFTA, as well as two more groups at Flight Training Europe (FTE) in Jerez dela Frontera, Spain.

Individual course fees amount to US100,000, with the airline making 100% payment in advance, but cadets only having to contribute a maximum of 50% of this amount during their career with the company. Air Astana is constantly looking to recruit new cadets, who must be citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan, aged between 18-34, offer good English language skills and hold mathematics & physics qualifications. More information on the Ab-Initio programme can be found at www.airastana.com