The first batch of recruits to take part in Virgin Atlantic’s Future Flyers Programme will take to the skies this January.

The news comes as the airline re-launches the training programme for 2017 that leads directly to a job as a pilot with the airline. This coming year Virgin Atlantic is offering 12 spaces on the programme.

Delivered in partnership with training organisation CTC Aviation, recruits will launch their career on a wide body A330 aircraft, operating flights to a variety of global destinations including Delhi, New York and Barbados.

The 18-month programme will see successful candidates work their way up from trainee through to first officer at CTC Aviation’s crew training centres in both the UK and New Zealand, as well as training on Cessna aircraft and Airbus full-flight simulators. Recruits are supported by qualified instructor teams.

The programme also offers the opportunity to complete a BSc Honours Degree in Professional Aviation Pilot Practice – in partnership with Middlesex University – alongside their training and sees Virgin Atlantic underwrite loans for successful outstanding applicants who require financial support, and provides full-time employment to all those who successfully complete the training programme.

The airline says it has focused on diversifying the backgrounds of its pilots, with Virgin Atlantic welcoming a former paramedic, a policeman, a bartender, a credit controller and even a ski instructor as cadets.

The number of women to have secured a place on the programme is 22% of those currently in training, compared to the average of around 5% across the global pilot workforce.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson told Recruiter the first batch of recruits on the programme have almost completed their training ahead of graduating next month and taking to the skies in January 2017.