On Tuesday 10 November, the Spata–Artemida Building Authority issued a planning permission for a new pilot training centre in Spata. The permit was published on the Diafania transparency portal on Wednesday 11 November, is valid until 10 November 2030, and the project owner, holding a 100 per cent stake, is SKYBRIDGE SIM CENTER Single-Member Public Limited Company.
What will be built and where
The project is described as a ‘new prefabricated pilot training centre comprising two buildings’: a single-storey training building and a four-storey building ‘housing support functions’. It is situated on plot 04 of the ‘Gialos – Agios Dimitrios – Pyrgos’ Business Park, in block E-76 of the Spata Municipal Unit.
The dimensions, as stated in the licence coverage diagram:
- plot of 4,588.08 square metres
- built-up area of 1,537.73 square metres, approximately one-third of the plot
- total floor area of 2,733.70 square metres
- volume: 14,278.79 cubic metres
- maximum height: 12 metres, four storeys
- 28 parking spaces
The plans accompanying the planning permission include a design for a private electricity substation, which indicates that the development will have significant electricity requirements. This was preceded by a confirmation of planning conditions on Friday 16 October; less than four weeks elapsed between the confirmation and the granting of the planning permission.
What the company itself says
The licence does not specify what equipment the buildings will house, nor does it specify the uses on each floor. On its website, Skybridge presents the centre as a facility with full-motion flight simulators (D-level) for the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX. The centre will provide type rating training and periodic refresher training for pilots from Europe, the Middle East and Asia, with accommodation facilities on site. The opening date is given as the first quarter of 2028, and the location is generally specified as ‘Athens’. The four-storey building specified in the licence corresponds to the accommodation advertised by the company, but this is not stated in the town planning document.
The company describes the centre as ‘EASA-certified’. Certification of a simulator is granted once the device has been installed and inspected; therefore, at this stage, it is a target rather than something that has already been achieved. The website does not mention the amount of investment, the number of simulators, the number of jobs or the names of shareholders.
Why is this of interest to the region?
Airline pilots undergo simulator training at least twice a year to keep their licences valid. A residential training centre means that crews come for a few days and stay in the area. For Spata, this is the second facility of its kind to be established next to the airport: AEGEAN and the Canadian company CAE have announced their own training centre, with capacity for up to seven simulators, within AEGEAN’s new technical base at Athens International Airport.
It remains to be seen when work on the site will begin, how many simulators the centre will have, and how many jobs will be created. The planning permission authorises construction; it is not an operating licence.
Source: Spata–Artemida Building Control Department, building permit 2190384/10 November 2026, Diafania 11 November 2026 (ADA 9ΨΜΔ46Ψ842-0ΛΥ); Skybridge Sim Centre website.
