Bartolini Air, a group of EASA-certified aviation companies and Ryanair's approved flight training partner, has acquired Tecnam P-Mentor aircraft for the "Ryanair Mentored Programme." The acquisition followed the P-Mentor's recent launch announcement introducing the model to Tecnam's portfolio of premium aircraft.
Ryanair relies on Bartolini Air's fleet of "modern, brand-new aircraft" to guide their future pilots from zero to ATPL. The P-Mentor will support the group's integrated ab-initio courses and is bound to be a gamechanger, especially for instrument rating training, thanks to a modern automatic flight control system, PBN/RNAV approval and full glass cockpit environment, combined with the fuel consumption of 14 liters per hour.
Latest EASA CS-23 Certification Requirements, operating cost and very low CO2 emissions make the P-Mentor unparalleled by any other competitor.
According to Bartolini Air President Bartlomiej Walas, adding the P-Mentor to the group's fleet "will improve the quality of training while limiting its cost for students and better preserving the natural environment."
"The similarity between the name of the aircraft and our flagship pilot course – the Ryanair Mentored Programme – is a pure coincidence, but a very fortunate one, because it is the P-Mentor that will allow future Ryanair pilots to benefit from top quality training at the lowest possible price," said Walas.
Bartolini Air's flight school has relied on Tecnam's innovative aircraft for pilot training since 2010. The group currently operates 14 Tecnam aircraft.
"This is not the first time that we have trusted Tecnam to implement innovative solutions in our pilot training," said Walas. "I have no doubt that the arrival of the P-Mentor in our fleet will only confirm our ability to offer the highest quality training throughout the course in just one single aircraft!"
Ryanair Director of Sustainability Thomas Fowler said, "As Europe's greenest major airline, Ryanair understands that aviation plays a pivotal role in tackling climate change and through our Pathway to Net Zero decarbonization strategy, we continue to reduce our CO2 emissions and the impact of our operations on the environment."
"We are delighted to see that our approved partner flight school, Bartolini Air, who trains our future Pilots on the Ryanair Mentored Programme, are investing in the newest generation aircraft P-Mentor from Tecnam which will have a hugely positive impact on the environment thanks to a 60% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to current IFR training planes and a fuel consumption of 14 l h, which means a 50% reduction compared to standard training planes," concluded Fowler.
Tecnam Aircraft's Managing Director Giovanni Pascale Langer said: "The P-Mentor has already generated great interest among forward-thinking flight training organizations like Bartolini Air who trust the Tecnam design, fine flying qualities combined with state-of-art avionics and perhaps most of all, its impressive fuel consumption and CO2 emission cuts. We see this as important steps not only for flight training centres, but in the future of the aviation industry across all its segments."
A recent study shows that flight schools operating with TECNAM single and twin-engine fleet can reduce emissions by up to 60%: 10 tons of CO2 for each student by the time they receive their commercial pilot license.
