The National Aviation Academy of the Republic of Azerbaijan has existed for more than 25 years, since 1992. It is one of the leading training centers in the CIS which prepares qualified aviation professionals of higher, advanced and specialized levels. The Academy is certified by the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) to train and retrain civil aviation personnel and is included in the Register of the ICAO and ECAC higher education institutions of civil aviation. It also has the status of a regional IATA center for the “Carriage of dangerous goods by air”. The Academy, located in Baku not far from the Heydar Aliyev International Airport, has five departments, 22 chairs, an Air Staff Training Center and a Simulator Center, which train pilots of planes and helicopters, air traffic controllers, aircraft maintenance engineers, specialists on aircraft engines, avionics, electrical, radio equipment and instrumentation of planes and helicopters. A total of 2,200 students learn more than 20 specializations at the Academy. The Air Staff Training Center provides training to 7,000 students who are lectured in more than 300 courses. In 2010, an AZAL Training Center was opened at the Academy. It has modern training facilities, enabling different types of basic, intermediate and advanced training for flight crews and ground personnel. The Center is equipped with 4 full flight simulators to train pilots to operate Airbus A320/A319, Boeing- 757/767, ATR-42/72, and Mi-171 helicopters. Currently, these simulators are considered as the most advanced simulators of this class and comply with level D, the highest international standard for certification of flight simulators.
