Three training campuses in Greece, Hungary and North Macedonia have been added to the NATO Flight Training Europe (NFTE) High Visibility Project. The 120 Flight Training Wings in Kalamata, Kecskemét Air Base and the Pilot Training Centre near Skopje have joined facilities in Czechia and Italy on the list of official training campuses for allied military pilots.

This significant expansion of NFTE’s training base has been achieved thanks to the Czech Republic, which has led the project since its inception in 2020. This is an important step towards NFTE’s long-term goal of creating a complete aircrew training architecture, including a network of training campuses in Europe. NFTE will provide training opportunities and capacity for all the participants’ aircrew training needs, including fast jet, fixed wing, helicopter, and drone pilots. With the recently added campuses, NFTE now also offers training for fast jet and helicopter pilots.

Mircea Geoană, NATO Deputy Secretary General, said: “In the current dynamic and unpredictable security environment, we need competent and ready flight crews that can contribute to NATO’s ability to defend its Allies in all areas. This multinational initiative will enable adaptive pilot training to the highest standards across Europe. This will allow our military pilots to be well trained in state-of-the-art facilities, be more interoperable and make their training more affordable for their nation.”

The decision to designate three additional training facilities was taken by the ten allies involved in the NFTE project. These countries are Belgium, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Spain, and Türkiye.

In the future, as the NATO European Flight Training project continues its rapid expansion, more allies are expected to join the initiative and more diverse training campuses are expected to be added. It is foreseen that the training will start in 2023 for the first group of pilot students who will benefit from the opportunities offered by NFTE.