Concludes Fiscal Year 2011 With 29 Civil Full-Flight Simulator
Sales
CAE has obtained contracts with airlines in Asia and North
America for training center development, the sale of two
full-flight simulators (FFS) and CAE Simfinity training devices,
all with a combined value of approximately $46.3 million at list
and contract prices.
China Southern Airlines and CAE are expanding their joint
venture aviation training center in Zhuhai, China to include two
additional Level D FFSs purchased from CAE– a CAE 5000 Series
for the Boeing 737NG and a CAE 3000 Series for the Sikorsky S-76C++
helicopter. This will mark the first CAE 3000 Series civil
helicopter full-flight and mission simulator in Asia. With this
contract CAE concludes fiscal year 2011 with 29 civil full-flight
simulator sales.
CAE has also signed a multi-year agreement with Virgin America
to develop and support a new pilot training center near the
airline's home base in San Francisco, USA. As part of this
agreement, CAE will install an existing CAE-owned Airbus A320 Level
D full-flight simulator (FFS), which will be updated to the latest
Airbus configuration.
"This expansion in Zhuhai further strengthens our position in
Asia and demonstrates CAE's commitment to provide the
highest-quality aviation training solutions for our customers
around the globe, including commercial aircraft, business aircraft
and civil helicopter operators," said Jeff Roberts, CAE Group
President, Civil Simulation Products, Training and Services. "Our
tailored, turnkey solution for Virgin America brings together CAE's
capabilities in simulation technology, regulatory liaison,
facilities design, simulator support, and training center
management in a total package that only CAE can effectively
deliver."
"Civil aviation traffic continues to grow rapidly in China and
throughout the region. Therefore, it is important that we continue
to grow training capacity to meet the increasing demand," said Mr.
Tan Wan'geng, President and CEO of China Southern Airlines "Our
partnership with CAE has been very successful, and the quality of
the pilot training has met all expectations."
S-76C++
Also included in the Zhuhai expansion are CAE Simfinity
integrated procedures trainers (IPTs) for the B737NG and S-76C++
and a helicopter CAE Simfinity Virtual Simulator (VSIM). The
S-76C++ FFS, IPT and VSIM will enable training for common S-76
variants including S-76A, S-76A++, S-76C+ and S-76C++. The FFSs,
IPTs and VSIM will be ready for training in 2012.
"We selected CAE as our partner because of their leadership in
training center management and advanced flight simulation
technology," said Bob Weatherly, Senior Vice President of
Operations at Virgin America. "They designed a training solution
that addresses our unique requirements as a new and growing
airline."
The A320 FFS will be ready for training later this year. CAE
will also provide training center operations support for the
simulator, including regulatory support and all simulator
maintenance and engineering activities. Virgin America will have
access to additional A320 FFSs at other CAE training centers in
North America and the Airbus Training center in Miami, USA. These
training facilities are part of the Airbus-CAE Training Cooperation
global network.
CAE will market available simulator time at the new Virgin
America San Francisco facility to other A320 operators. This will
be the 33rd location in CAE's global training network of
professional aviation training centers.