The Philippines is expanding its pool of trained air traffic controllers as rising aviation activity puts greater pressure on the industry to maintain enough skilled personnel to safely manage the country’s airspace.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said Saturday it now employs 935 Filipino Air Traffic Management Officers, or air traffic controllers, who underwent specialized aviation training using modern simulators.

Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez said CAAP’s free training program and state-of-the-art simulators are designed to equip future controllers with the technical and cognitive skills required for the job.

The program combines theoretical instruction on aviation procedures and standards with practical exercises using aerodrome simulators.

“CAAP’s modern aerodrome simulator can truly be considered high-tech. The training is free for qualified applicants. Aside from the training, they can also expect to have jobs after graduation,” Lopez said.

“They may be assigned as air traffic controllers at different airports in the Philippines. Once they gain enough experience, they can compete with air traffic controllers in other countries,” he added.

CAAP operates an integrated Aerodrome, En Route and Approach Simulator to expose trainees to different traffic conditions, emergencies, weather conditions and airspace scenarios without disrupting actual airport operations.

The agency inaugurated its 315-degree Aerodrome Simulator in 2020, which became operational in 2024.

A newer 360-degree simulator was inaugurated in July and is set to be used for Batch 21 of CAAP’s Comprehensive Air Traffic Service training this year.

CAAP Air Traffic Service Officer-in-Charge Melba Acurantes said simulator-based training marked a major shift from the agency’s previous training methods.

“In the past, when we conducted training without the simulator, we did Phase 2 manually. There was a drawing of a runway on the floor. Then instructors and students used toy aircraft, which they simply moved around on the floor. Now, we use the simulator,” Acurantes said.

“The training is now more realistic because we can recreate situations without using our actual equipment during live operations. We cannot use our actual operations for training because it would not be safe. That is why using the simulator is part of their training. It is also very similar to real-life operations,” she added.

The training could also widen overseas career opportunities for Filipino controllers, with CAAP saying some locally trained personnel are already working abroad.