Training & Certification
Elixir Aircraft Begins U.S. Deliveries of FAA-Certified Trainers
Elixir Aircraft starts U.S. deliveries of its FAA-certified training planes with Cirrus Aviation as launch customer and Sarasota support hub.
This article is based on an official press release from Elixir Aircraft.
French manufacturer Elixir Aircraft has officially commenced deliveries of its fourth-generation training aircraft to the United States as of April 23, 2026. According to a company press release, this major milestone follows the aircraft’s FAA Part 23 certification, which was achieved in July 2025.
The launch customer for the U.S. market is Cirrus Aviation, an FAA Part 141 Pilot School based in Sarasota, Florida. Cirrus Aviation has converted its initial pre-order into a firm commitment for 10 aircraft, signaling a strong start for Elixir’s North American expansion and fleet renewal initiatives.
To support this rollout, Elixir Aircraft has established a dedicated reassembly and support hub at the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (KSRQ). The company aims to service a growing backlog of over 200 pre-orders from American customers through this localized infrastructure.
U.S. Expansion and Infrastructure
Establishing a Sarasota Hub
Elixir’s strategy relies heavily on localized support for its North American clients. The company’s press release details the establishment of its main U.S. assembly and support facility directly on the flight line at KSRQ. Operations began in a fully renovated 12,500-square-foot hangar in the fourth quarter of 2024, dedicated to reassembling aircraft shipped from France.
In August 2025, a second 6,000-square-foot building became operational to house spare parts and provide comprehensive support for the East Coast. The manufacturer projects employing approximately 200 staff members at the Sarasota location by 2027 to handle administration, assembly, deliveries, and maintenance. Additional support facilities are also planned for Arizona and the Midwest.
“When we started Elixir, we knew the American market will be key to the future success of the company. After years of looking for the right U.S. location, and many trips to the area, we are excited to tell the world we will be in Sarasota, Florida,” stated Arthur Léopold-Léger, CEO and Co-founder of Elixir Aircraft.
Launch Customers and Fleet Renewal
Cirrus Aviation Leads the Way
Cirrus Aviation, which has operated in Sarasota for over 30 years, is the first to receive the new aircraft. The delivery of 10 units is a core component of the school’s fleet renewal strategy, aiming to modernize pilot training with fourth-generation technology.
“We plan to operate the Elixir on an intensive schedule and look forward to evaluating its performance, both operationally and financially,” said David Cattin, President of Cirrus Aviation.
Beyond Florida, Elixir notes that Sierra Charlie Aviation in Scottsdale, Arizona, is another major U.S. client. According to the company’s data, the Arizona-based flight school is reportedly expecting to take delivery of up to 100 units.
Technology and Global Production
The “Carbon OneShot” Advantage
Founded in 2015, Elixir Aircraft utilizes a unique manufacturing process inspired by competitive sailing known as “Carbon OneShot.” According to the company, this technique molds the entire wing and fuselage out of carbon fiber in single pieces, eliminating the need for thousands of rivets and glued joints. The resulting airframe consists of just nine major pieces, which the manufacturer claims enhances safety and significantly lowers maintenance needs.
The aircraft is designed for economic and environmental efficiency. Operating costs are estimated at $50 to $60 per hour, encompassing fuel, insurance, and maintenance. Furthermore, the company reports a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions and fuel consumption compared to conventional legacy training aircraft.
Scaling Up Operations
To meet a global demand of over 300 pre-orders, Elixir is rapidly expanding its manufacturing footprint in France. Backed by €40 million (approximately $43 million) in development financing secured in early 2024 and a €13 million French government subsidy from June 2023, the company is constructing a massive 160,000-square-foot factory in La Rochelle, slated for completion in 2026. The ultimate production goal is to manufacture over 300 aircraft annually.
Concurrently, Elixir unveiled an upgraded version of its trainer, the Elixir+, at the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany on April 22, 2026. Greek flight school Global Aviation Academy became the European launch customer for this new model with an order of five aircraft.
AirPro News analysis
At AirPro News, we observe that Elixir Aircraft’s entry into the U.S. market arrives at a critical juncture for the flight training industry. Flight schools across the country are actively grappling with an aging fleet of legacy trainers. Elixir’s promise of a 70% reduction in fuel burn and significantly lower operating costs provides a compelling, modern alternative that could allow schools to increase profit margins while training the next generation of commercial pilots. As the aviation sector faces mounting pressure to decarbonize, this highly efficient piston aircraft serves as a practical “green” stepping stone for academies prior to the widespread viability and certification of fully electric trainers.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Elixir Aircraft receive FAA certification?
Elixir Aircraft officially secured its FAA Part 23 certification in July 2025 during the EAA AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
What is the operating cost of the Elixir aircraft?
The estimated operating cost is between $50 and $60 per hour, which includes fuel, insurance, and maintenance.
Where is Elixir Aircraft’s U.S. headquarters?
The company’s main U.S. assembly and support facility is located on the flight line at the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (KSRQ) in Florida.
Sources
Photo Credit: Elixir Aircraft
Training & Certification
Bombardier Safety Standdown 2026 Marks 30th Anniversary
Bombardier opens registration for its 30th annual Safety Standdown, a free seminar on Nov. 10-12, 2026, in Wichita and online.
Bombardier has opened registration for the 30th annual Safety Standdown, a free industry-wide aviation safety seminar scheduled for November 10 through November 12, 2026, in Wichita, Kansas, and online.
Announced in a press release on September 21, 2026, the milestone event marks three decades of the manufacturer’s knowledge-based safety training initiative. The 2026 seminar, themed “Evolution Fueled by Legacy,” aims to leverage historical aviation experiences to build more resilient safety cultures across corporate, commercial, and military flight operations.
Three decades of safety advocacy
Conceived in 1996 by a group of Learjet demonstration pilots in Wichita, the Safety Standdown was initially designed to make their specific team the safest in the industry. The program has since expanded globally to serve the broader aviation community. The event remains open to all aviation professionals, including flight crews, maintenance technicians, flight dispatchers, and schedulers, regardless of the aircraft type they operate.
According to Bombardier, more than 10,000 aviation professionals have attended the seminars worldwide since the program’s inception. Chris Milligan, Vice President of Pre-owned Aircraft Services and Flight Operations at Bombardier, highlighted the event’s longevity and purpose.
“For 30 years, Bombardier’s Safety Standdown has provided aviation professionals with invaluable opportunities to glean new perspectives on safety, helping them evolve and grow in every aspect of flight operations,” Milligan stated.
2026 seminar details and speaker lineup
The 2026 event will take place in person at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Wichita, with virtual attendance options available for international participants. The seminar remains completely free of charge, supported by Bombardier, an advisory council, and industry sponsors to ensure accessibility for organizations of all sizes.
The agenda features several prominent aviation and safety experts. Keynote speaker Dr. Tony Kern, CEO of Convergent Performance, will address attendees alongside Ivan Pupulidy, PhD, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The lineup also includes retired United States Marine Corps Major Jermaine Cadogan and Tim Wade, Corporate Director of Environmental, Health & Safety at Flexjet.
AirPro News analysis
The continued investment in the Safety Standdown highlights a broader industry shift toward proactive safety management systems and human factors training. By keeping the event free and aircraft-agnostic, Bombardier maintains a unique position in corporate aviation safety advocacy. While the manufacturer supports a global fleet of more than 5,200 aircraft, opening this training to operators of competing platforms fosters a collaborative approach to safety that benefits the entire aerospace sector. We view this 30-year milestone as a testament to the enduring value of shared safety data and cross-organizational training in reducing aviation incidents.
Sources: Bombardier
Photo Credit: Bombardier
Training & Certification
Airbus and ALT Academy Partner on Africa MRO Training
Airbus and ALT Academy signed an MoU to build aircraft maintenance training capacity in South Africa amid a projected shortfall of 30,000 mechanics.
South African aviation training organization ALT Academy and European aerospace manufacturer Airbus signed a Memorandum of Understanding on September 16, 2026, to jointly develop aircraft maintenance training programs aimed at closing the continent’s persistent maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) capacity gap.
The agreement, formalized at the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) Expo 2026 in the City of Tshwane, South Africa, seeks to align academic instruction with current industry requirements. According to a press release issued by ALT Academy, the partnership will focus on creating a pipeline of highly skilled aviation maintenance professionals to support Africa’s growing aviation ecosystem.
Addressing Africa’s MRO capacity shortfall
The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) identified insufficient MRO capacity and a shortage of skilled personnel as primary challenges for regional operators during the African MRO Conference in Addis Ababa earlier in 2026. The reliance on off-continent maintenance facilities currently results in higher costs and extended aircraft downtime for African airlines.
According to reporting by the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, Airbus forecasts that Africa will require 30,000 new aircraft mechanics over the next 20 years to sustain its fleet growth and operational demands. The new MoU aims to address this specific shortfall by bridging the gap between foundational academic training and the technical requirements of modern aircraft maintenance.
Nam-Binh Hoang, Airbus Country Representative in South Africa, stated in the release that the partnership combines the manufacturer’s learning solutions with ALT Academy’s practical education focus to meet the evolving demands of the sector.
Expanding regional training infrastructure
The Airbus MoU follows a separate strategic expansion announced by ALT Academy on September 11, 2026. According to African Pilot, the organization partnered with WECAIR to launch a professional pilot training program spanning the United States, Europe, and Africa, culminating in a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) license. The dual focus on pilot and maintenance training indicates a broader effort to localize aviation skills development within South Africa.
Ryan van Wijk, CEO of ALT Academy, emphasized the necessity of manufacturer involvement in technical education to ensure regulatory and safety standards are met.
“Modern aircraft demand a level of technical training that is difficult to build in isolation. This partnership is an important step in our commitment to building practical, high-quality maintenance training capacity in South Africa, and it gives us the opportunity to explore how current manufacturer knowledge and learning solutions can be made more accessible to learners and to industry, while holding a firm line on safety, quality and regulatory requirements, for the benefit of operators across the continent.”
AirPro News analysis
We view the ALT Academy and Airbus partnership as a pragmatic step toward addressing a critical bottleneck in African aviation. While aircraft orders from African carriers have increased, the localized infrastructure required to maintain those fleets has lagged. By embedding original equipment manufacturer (OEM) standards directly into regional training curricula, this initiative could reduce the long-term dependency on European and Middle Eastern MRO providers. The success of the MoU will depend on the speed at which these training frameworks can be operationalized and scaled to meet the projected demand for 30,000 mechanics over the next two decades.
Sources: EPT Aviation / ALT Academy
Photo Credit: EPT Aviation
Training & Certification
HAVELSAN Expands 737 MAX and A320 Simulator Orderbooks
HAVELSAN grows its Boeing 737 MAX and A320 simulator orderbooks while building a new Ankara facility with 30-unit annual capacity.
Türkiye-headquartered flight simulator manufacturer HAVELSAN is rapidly expanding its commercial aviation training footprint, securing new orders for its Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320 family full flight simulators while constructing a high-capacity production facility in Ankara.
In press releases issued on August 31 and September 1, 2026, the company confirmed its Boeing 737 MAX full flight simulator (FFS) orderbook has grown to five devices. Concurrently, HAVELSAN announced orders for six additional Airbus A320 family training devices, building on the five A320 simulators it already has in operation.
Narrowbody simulator orderbook growth
The recent orderbook expansion is heavily supported by Turkish Airlines (TK). Following the delivery of its latest order for two devices, the national carrier will operate five HAVELSAN-built Boeing 737 MAX simulators.
HAVELSAN noted that eight different airlines and pilot training centers have conducted evaluation fly-outs on its Boeing 737 MAX FFS. All of the manufacturer’s full flight simulators currently in operation have achieved European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA”>EASA) qualification, a critical regulatory benchmark for international sales.
Infrastructure expansion in Ankara
To support the growing backlog of its STARLINE simulator portfolio, HAVELSAN is executing a major infrastructure investment. In March 2026, the company broke ground on a new 17,000-square-meter Simulator Production and Integration Facility in Ankara.
Scheduled to enter service in 2027, the new plant will allow the company to produce up to 30 simulators annually. The facility is designed to support the simultaneous development and integration of 16 devices. Once operational, HAVELSAN’s total infrastructure capacity in Ankara will reach 40 commercial and military simulators.
Strategic market positioning
The narrowbody simulator announcements follow a major July 2026 agreement with Turkish Airlines for 12 new training devices, comprising eight full flight simulators and four flight training devices. That agreement also marked HAVELSAN’s strategic entry into the wide-body aircraft simulation market.
Beyond its domestic market, the company is actively targeting international operators. HAVELSAN recently showcased its STARLINE portfolio at the Asia Pacific Aviation Training Summit (APATS) 2026 in Singapore, aiming to capture demand from Asia-Pacific carriers expanding their narrowbody fleets.
AirPro News analysis
We view HAVELSAN’s concurrent investments in production capacity and EASA qualification as a clear strategy to transition from a regional defense supplier into a global commercial aviation training provider. By scaling its manufacturing infrastructure to support 30 simulators annually, the company is positioning itself to compete directly for narrowbody training contracts against established tier-one simulator manufacturers. The entry into wide-body simulation with Turkish Airlines will likely serve as a critical proof of concept for future international campaigns.
Photo Credit: HAVELSAN
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