Leading Edge Aviation is celebrating its 5th anniversary of turning aspiring pilots’ dreams into reality. Starting with just two students, Leading Edge Aviation began its mission to transform commercial pilot training. Today, it stands as a fast-growing, well respected pilot training academy with 262 students currently at various stages of training.

To celebrate their five-year milestone, Leading Edge is launching an All the Fives promotion to help more aspiring pilots start their journey. They are offering a £5,000 bursary to the first five students who sign up for five upcoming LEAP integrated courses. Full details are available on the Leading Edge website.

Leading Edge has trained 664 students, flying over 62,000 hours, with each student embarking on a transformative journey from ambitious learners to commercial pilots. The academy holds a 99% pass rate.

Over the last five years Leading Edge has made a substantial investment in an A320 simulator in September 2020, three DA42 simulators and, the establishment of a fair-weather training base in Alhama, Spain, in September 2022 – demonstrating Leading Edge’s commitment to ensuring uninterrupted training and a conducive learning environment for its students.

Leading Edge has grown to a fleet of 12 DA40s, 6 DA42s and aT67 aircraft, with five further DA40’s this month, Leading Edge has significantly enhanced its training capacity.

Winning an award in 2021 for its Augmented Reality Experience A320 cockpit simulation, Leading Edge has established a modernised approach to training, especially supporting students during their APS MCC course. Leading Edge also launched the VECTOR distance learning programme for remote ground school in 2022.

Introduced in 2022, the Dual Licensing programme positioned Leading Edge as one of only two schools offering this opportunity at that time, broadening the horizons for its students in the global aviation arena.

Leading Edge Aviation has continued to build strong relationships with the industry with graduates now working in over 20 airlines. Recently, Leading Edge has become a nominated provider for the British Airways Whitetail Recruitment Programme.

With a focus on making pilot training accessible to all, Leading Edge are continuing to promote diversity with 17% of students being female and growing numbers of students from diverse ethnic backgrounds.