# AELO Swiss Academy Opens SkyAlps MPL Program With Guaranteed First Officer Role > AELO Swiss Academy's 18-month SkyAlps MPL program trains pilots on the Dash 8 Q400 and ends with a permanent First Officer contract at the Bolzano airline. - Published: 2026-11-02T18:37:56+00:00 - Section: Product Launches - Author: News Desk - URL: https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-11-02/aelo-swiss-academy-skyalps-mpl-program - Source: [GlobeNewswire](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/11/02/3393624/0/en/aelo-swiss-academy-highlights-skyalps-mpl-programme-with-guaranteed-first-officer-placement.html) ## Key takeaways - AELO Swiss Academy's SkyAlps MPL program runs 18 months with 240 flight hours and 1,000 classroom hours. - Graduates receive a permanent First Officer employment contract with SkyAlps, which flies the Dash 8 Q400. - Courses start in April and October, with the fee covering training, accommodation, transport, health insurance, flight hours and landing fees. AELO Swiss Academy is promoting an 18-month Multi Pilot Licence pathway that ends with a guaranteed First Officer position at SkyAlps, the regional airline based in Bolzano, Italy. The academy, the trading name of Aero Locarno SA, announced the program on November 2, 2026, according to [GlobeNewswire](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/11/02/3393624/0/en/aelo-swiss-academy-highlights-skyalps-mpl-programme-with-guaranteed-first-officer-placement.html). ## Inside the SkyAlps MPL Pathway [AELO Swiss Academy - Powered by AeroLocarno](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/003tsqy/aelo-swiss-academy-powered-by-aerolocarno) trains students at Locarno Airport in Switzerland, with a satellite base at Lugano Airport, and prepares them for the Dash 8 Q400 turboprop flown by [SkyAlps](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/00c17ox/skyalps). The course runs through four phases: foundational aviation knowledge, instrument and multi-crew training, line-oriented flight simulation, and a Dash 8 Q400 type rating. Trainees complete 240 flight training hours and 1,000 hours of classroom instruction, and also earn Performance-Based Navigation certification and Advanced Upset Prevention and Recovery Training. Training includes operations across Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Courses begin in April and October, and the fee covers training, accommodation, transport, health insurance, flight hours and landing fees. "The SkyAlps MPL Program with AELO Swiss Academy was designed to close the gap between flight school and the flight deck," said Jaime Ordovas, Business Development Director at AELO Swiss Academy. "Students know from day one that a structured path toward a First Officer role awaits them, which allows them to focus fully on developing both the technical and crew coordination skills that regional airline operations demand." Admission runs through a CV assessment, an online application, AON online assessments, a personal interview and a medical examination. The academy states that vision and medical requirements apply, with no height restrictions. "Regional aviation requires pilots who are comfortable across multiple countries and conditions, and that is what the Dash 8 Q400 training environment delivers," said Diego Paris, Head of Admissions at AELO Swiss Academy. SkyAlps flies regional routes across Italy, Switzerland, Germany and neighboring countries with a Dash 8 Q400 fleet. On September 26-27, SkyAlps and Merano Speck served Merafino Speck on 38 flights to and from Bozen for the Speckfest, FinanzNachrichten.de reported. ## AeroLocarno's Training Record AELO Swiss Academy - Powered by AeroLocarno was founded in 1980 as an aviation training academy under the AeroLocarno brand and has operated in Locarno, Switzerland, since then, according to akta.pro [company records](https://akta.pro/company-data). The same records describe a co-branding as "AELO Swiss Academy - Powered by AeroLocarno" that couples the school identity with the parent AeroLocarno operator brand. ## Pilot Training Moves Across the Sector Airbus expanded its Skywise digital services subsidiary with three pilot training products, consolidating software offerings under one business, [Seeking Alpha](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4662543-airbus-expands-skywise-digital-services-with-pilot-training-tools) reported on November 2, 2026. Klatt Works installed its Smoke Assured Vision Enhanced Display masks in Gulfstream simulators for smoke-in-cockpit training, with FedEx as launch fleet customer on Boeing 767s, [Aviation International News](https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2026-10-20/smoke-training-available-klatt-o2-mask-display) reported on October 20, 2026. AEROVIRTUOSO aligned its training platform with aviation workforce demand using VR, AI and cloud technologies, [PRLog](https://www.prlog.org/13179477-aerovirtuoso-aligns-its-training-technology-with-growing-aviation-workforce-demand.html) reported on October 27, 2026. ## Companies in this story - [AELO Swiss Academy - Powered by AeroLocarno company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/003tsqy/aelo-swiss-academy-powered-by-aerolocarno) · website: https://aerolocarno.ch - [SkyAlps company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/00c17ox/skyalps) · website: https://www.skyalps.com --- News for Agent · https://newsforagent.com/llms.txt