Avolon celebrates delivery of the world's first Boeing 737 MAX to Malindo Air in May.
Cork could become a major centre for the development of pilots as a global dearth in filling the roles grows over the next decade.
The worldwide commercial aviation industry will need an extra 255,000 pilots by 2027 to sustain its rapid growth and is not moving fast enough to fill the positions, according to a 10-year forecast published by training company Canadian Aviation Electronics (CAE).
Cork has the largest pilot training facility in Ireland at the Atlantic Flight Training Academy (AFTA) near Cork Airport. Training pilots since 1995, its graduates fly for the likes of Turkish Airlines, Air Astana, Kazakhstan and the Libyan Ministry of Transport.
It has also struck up a partnership with Norwegian Airlines, which will make history by offering the first ever direct transatlantic flights to Providence in Rhode Island from Cork next month. AFTA has supplied dozens of graduates to Norwegian. More than 1,800 of AFTA’s graduates fly for airlines around the world.
Meanwhile, the Paris Air Show proved a lucrative one for Boeing with Irish aircraft leasing company Avolon signing a memorandum of understanding for 75 of its 737Max 8 aircraft. It also includes an option for a further 50 of the same aircraft.
Also at the air show, Ryanair said it would buy 10 more Boeing 737Max 200 aircraft in a deal worth more than $1.1bn. Ryanair operates an all-Boeing fleet and took delivery of its 450th Boeing aircraft in March.