Lufthansa Aviation Expands Training Fleet

According to a statement from European Flight Academy, the training division of LAT, the state of the art additional equipment will help accommodate 300 students per year.

Company officials note once the aircraft and simulators are delivered, LAT’s fleet of Diamond training aircraft will grow to 24 in total (14 DA42s and 10 DA40s) and four Diamond Aircraft simulators.

“As a leading flight training provider, this step is not only a further investment in an efficient aircraft fleet and leading-edge training equipment, but ultimately also in the next generation of top-trained pilots of the Lufthansa Group," said Matthias Spohr, managing director at LAT.

“This purchase again shows our good and long-standing relationship with Lufthansa Aviation Training. We are proud to be part of their continuing growth,” said Jane Wang, sales director at Diamond Aircraft Austria. “The DA42-VI is an excellent multiengine training platform, popular at many leading flight schools all over the world, that burns up to 50 percent less fuel than conventional avgas-powered aircraft and is exceptionally silent.”

The four-seat DA42-VI is the newest version of Diamond’s technology-leading light piston twin. The all-composite DA42-VIs are equipped with 168 hp jet fuel Austro AE300 engines, the Garmin G1000 NXi with a three-axis automatic flight control system, and optional electrically driven air conditioning.

The Diamond Aircraft flight simulation devices allow realistic procedures training as the devices are exact replicas of the real Diamond aircraft. The simulators are built with authentic Diamond aircraft parts, including avionics, high-end visuals and OEM flight dynamic models for fidelity. The instrument panel is fitted with the original Garmin G1000 NXi avionics suite and standby instruments, allowing learners to train in a completely realistic environment.

Delivery of the DA42-VI training aircraft is expected for 2024, with four being placed at Grenchen, Switzerland and three at Rostock-Laage, Germany. 

Company officials add that Rostock-Laage will also receive one of the brand-new DA42 flight navigation procedures trainers. The other two Diamond Aircraft FNPT II simulators are destined for Zurich, Switzerland.