Charleroi adds a teaching aircraft to show students aeronautics jobs up close
CHARLEROI, 13 June 2026, 00:00 UTC — A teaching aircraft has been installed in Charleroi to help learners discover aeronautics trades, RTBF reported. The project gives students a concrete way to understand aircraft maintenance, airport operations and technical careers in a region where aviation remains a major employment sector.
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About this story
The subject is a didactic aircraft in Charleroi: a real or adapted aircraft used as a training and orientation tool. According to RTBF, its purpose is to help young people apprendre metiers aeronautique through direct contact with aircraft systems and professional gestures rather than only classroom explanation.
How to read this story
The history
Gosselies has had aeronautical activity for more than a century, from early flight training and aircraft maintenance to companies such as Sonaca. Charleroi’s recent economic strategy has also leaned on technical education, airport activity and advanced industry to rebalance an economy long associated with heavy industry.
Regional impact
The impact is mainly Walloon and local. Charleroi already has an airport, aviation firms and training sites around Gosselies, so the aircraft fits into an existing regional ecosystem rather than creating one from scratch.
Local impact
Local schools and guidance services gain a concrete tool for explaining technical aviation work. Employers gain a visible way to show what jobs in the sector involve.
What this means for you
Families should look for linked open days, entry requirements and recognised training pathways before treating the aircraft visit as more than an introduction.
Opposing perspectives
- Training providers and aviation employers
Training bodies and aeronautics employers see a didactic aircraft as a direct way to attract learners into technical jobs. Their priority is to make aircraft work visible, hands-on and credible for students who do not yet know the sector.
- Students and families comparing career routes
Students and families judge the project by outcomes: whether it leads to clear courses, internships and jobs. For them, the aircraft is useful only if it connects discovery activities with concrete training places and accessible entry requirements.
Related to this story
Pulse Insight — This topic connects to 10 associations, 4 funding programmes, 89 upcoming events and 12389 jobs through the Wallonia ecosystem.
Live connections from the Belgium Impulse ecosystem — not recommendations.
This briefing was prepared with AI assistance and reviewed by a Belgium Impulse editor before publication. methodology.