Ryanair chooses Astonfly to recruit 500 pilots

Europe's leading airline Ryanair is entrusting French flight school Astonfly with the selection and training of its future pilots. The two partners have signed an exclusive contract to recruit 500 pilots over 4 years and announced the news at a ceremony at the Aéro-Club de France in Paris on 7th April 2022.

Ryanair entrusts Astonfly with the selection and training of its pilots

Europe's leading airline and the world's 4th largest, Ryanair has chosen Astonfly as its exclusive partner in France for the selection and training of its future pilots through the "Ryanair Mentored Programme".

After a year of discussions and technical audits, the partnership contract was signed on 1st April 2022 by Charles Clair, President of Clair Group, airline pilot and founder of Astonfly, Patrick Milward, CEO of Astonfly and Ryanair's operational and recruitment management.

"The ambitious pilot recruitment plan announced by Ryanair is a strong indicator of the return to growth in international air transport. Astonfly is particularly proud to have been selected as the exclusive partner of the leading employer of pilots in Europe. This is a unique opportunity for our alumni, current and future students to get their first job as an airline pilot right after graduation," said Charles Clair, President of Astonfly.

"Ryanair is delighted to have signed this partnership with Astonfly for the selection and training of Ryanair Mentored students exclusively for France. We were impressed by the quality of the ab initio pilots already trained by Astonfly who are now Ryanair pilots. We look forward to working more closely with Astonfly. Future students selected by Astonfly for the Ryanair Mentored Programme will have an undeniable advantage as they will have access to Ryanair's culture and SOPs and will therefore benefit from an accelerated recruitment path to their first co-pilot position. The Ryanair group currently has a fleet of 500 aircraft and is targeting 225 million passengers for 2026. This will create thousands of positions for future pilots," said Mark Duffy, Ryanair's Deputy Director HR – Head of Talent Acquisition.

Astonfly to train 500 pilots for Ryanair over 4 year

Since it was founded, Astonfly has trained more than 1,000 airline pilots who are today working for more than 50 airlines worldwide. With a fleet of over 40 aircraft, Astonfly is the leading airline pilot training school in France. Its campus is based near Paris at the Toussus-le-Noble airport (Yvelines).

With the Ryanair Mentored Programme, students benefit from the recognised excellence of Astonfly training and the tried and tested procedures of Europe's leading airline. 98% of these students will become Boeing 737 co-pilots at the end of their two years of Astonfly training.