Didavia Aviation Academy is a flight training and type rating training organisation. Its headquarters are located next to Athens International Airport in Greece and it offers approved training to aspiring private and commercial pilots. Didavia is also the first such Greek private initiative authorised to offer a plethora of advanced trainings and certifications such as Airbus and Boeing type ratings to already licensed career pilots and small and medium sized airlines that don’t operate their own training centers. Furthermore, through its collaboration with RMIT University of Melbourne, Didavia was the first European flight school to be approved for testing and certifying pilots according to the new language proficiency requirements, a measure better known in the aviation industry as ‘Aviation English Requirements,’ mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation in 2008.

Didavia’s Head of Training, Captain George Aronis, a veteran certified instructor and examiner for more than 15 years and currently a Gulfstream GIV Captain, used to fly for Olympic Airways before he joined Didavia: “Didavia covers all aspects of training in the aviation spectrum. Our approved programmes give our trainees the opportunity to get licensed from a single piston Cessna right up to a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet. Never before an Aviation Academy of such scope has attempted to operate in Greece, and the feedback so far has been overwhelming positive.” Like Capt. Aronis, all Didavia instructors and examiners, besides been properly certified, are active airliners with years of valuable training expertise. “You really need to love training, not just flying, to excel in this business”, as Capt. Aronis put it.

Greece has become a fully fledged member of the JAA/EASA regulatory consortium of EU member states’ Aviation Authorities, adhering to a common system of pan-European flight crew licensing regulations, thus enabling organisations like Didavia to finally compete in the booming international arena of professional aviation training. One of the obvious advantages is the ideal weather conditions for initial flight training, since Greece enjoys more than 300 days of sunshine yearly. Another unique feature is its geography; with more than 200 inhabited islands and thousands of miles of pristine beaches, Greece has long been one of the top vacation destinations worldwide. And this is something that Didavia plans to tap in to.

“Imagine combining your holidays with your flight training. You could be practicing touch-and-go landings in Mykonos and then flying over to Santorini for a coffee break opposite the famous volcano, all the while taking in the amazing views over the Aegean Sea,” Constantinos Machairas, Didavia’s managing director explained to us when we sat with him at his office overlooking the main runway of Athens International. “Our training fleet of single and twin engine airplanes is based at Megara General Aviation Airfield, 35km from downtown Athens, but depending on the programme we are utilising several of the 40 Greek airports that are available to us.”
The concept is to open up a high calibre Aviation Academy that was created exclusively for professionals to the general aviation public. “Flying is no longer the prerogative of the few. With the appropriate training and the guidance of experienced instructors, almost anybody can now enjoy the beauty and exhilaration of flight by taking advantage of our specialised infrastructure otherwise reserved only for professionals. By offering fun flights on light aircrafts and simulators, private pilot training & flying holidays we can now cater to the aviation enthusiast,” Didavia’s MD affirmed.

Whichever your level of flight skills or for those of you that still hide a pilot within them, get ready to fly your dream in Greece. Just visit www.didavia.com