Read the storyAHLEX helped us turn new EASA requirements into a clear and confident learning path, giving airside drivers the language skills they need to communicate safely in real operational situations.
Ostend-Bruges Airport
The full Aviato story
Airport Job Discovery experience developed with Aviato, AHLEX and employment partners.
Brussels Airport is much more than planes taking off and landing. It is a major employment ecosystem, with 29,500 direct jobs and 64,000 jobs in total. But for many people looking for work, airport jobs still feel abstract. They know the most visible roles, such as pilots and cabin crew, but not the wide range of functions that keep the airport running every day.
Aviato was created to support that employment engine. As the dedicated employment office of Brussels Airport, Aviato is a public private partnership between Brussels Airport Company, Actiris, VDAB, VOKA and other partners. It already supports the airport community through job fairs, job cafes, information sessions and one-on-one counselling. These actions work well, but Aviato and AHLEX wanted to go one step further: let people experience what it means to work at the airport, which skills are needed and which roles could match their profile.
In 2023, Aviato and AHLEX started designing the Airport Job Discovery experience. Aviato brought the content expertise: which jobs to highlight, how to explain them and how to connect them to the skills and interests of participants. AHLEX built the digital and infrastructural setup in its digital experience area, using large screens, tablets, a digital table, VR tools and tailor-made technology developed with specialised partners, including Ocular.
The result is a 1.5-hour immersive journey through the airport world. Participants receive a tablet and follow a guided route. Along the way, they discover how the airport works behind the scenes, explore fun facts about airport operations and see how broad the job landscape really is. Interactive quizzes and challenges help them understand which roles might fit their interests, strengths and skills.
At the end of the route, participants can freely explore the experience area, including a job library with ten categories of airport jobs and more than 200 different roles. The digital discovery is then followed by personal guidance in the AHLEX Labspace, where an Aviato consultant discusses the participant’s insights, explains vacancies and training options, and helps translate the experience into realistic next steps.
The full series of 45 half-day sessions has now been delivered at AHLEX, in Dutch and French, for participants from Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia. The experience mainly supports jobseekers, while also welcoming career changers and students.
For many participants, the experience is an eye-opener. A logistics-minded participant discovers how many hidden opportunities exist behind the scenes. A career changer sees which training paths could connect to transferable skills. A jobseeker leaves motivated after a personal conversation with an Aviato advisor. Airport jobs suddenly become real, relevant and within reach.
Across the different audiences, the value is clear. Jobseekers discover realistic airport career options. Career changers explore new directions and training paths. Students gain early orientation. Airport companies benefit from better-informed candidates and a stronger talent pipeline. Aviato and their partners strengthen their role as connectors between the labour market, employment stakeholders and the airport ecosystem.
And for AHLEX, the Airport Job Discovery programme shows how technology and human guidance can work together. Digital immersion makes the airport world visible. Personal counselling turns that discovery into direction. Together, they help people navigate airport opportunities with more confidence and take a more concrete next step.
