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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 3755.PDF
SIMULATION & TRAINING SIMULATOR SALES GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC CAE sees sales downturn for commercial flight simulators But interest from airlines in outsourcing is on the increase as flexibility becomes key CAE has reduced estimates of com mercial flight simulator sales over the next two years, but expects to offset the decline with production for its own training centres. The Montreal-based firm pre dicts sales of around 25 simulators by the end of financial year (FY) 2002, down on an initial forecast of 29-30, and below its FY2001 total of 34. Sales in FY2003 are expected to be lower still. CAE sold 17 full-flight simulators in the six months to 30 September, with an 85% market share. But "overtures" from airlines in terested in outsourcing training have increased since 11 September, says chief executive Derek Burney. Discussions "may bear fruit before the end of the year", he adds. Flexibility to sell, lease or oper ate simulators is increasingly important to CAE, as illustrated by a C$100 million ($70 million) order from Algeria's Khalifa Air ways for four simulators, after a C$70 million sale to Emirates of three machines to equip a jointly operated training centre in Dubai. Fast-expanding Khalifa has ord ered Airbus A320, A330/A340, Boeing 777 and ATR 72 simulators for delivery in 2003 and 2004. The Emirates' deal adds airline- owned A330/A340 and Gulfstream IV and V simulators to the CAE- owned A320 and Boeing 737NG and 777 machines to be installed CAE moves into business jet training with Emirates deal CAE's agreement with Emirates to expand their joint venture signals the company's entry into business jet training. The Dubai centre will offer training on the Gulfstream IV and V the Airbus Corporate Jet and Boeing Business Jet. The Gulfstream orders are based on CAE's lower-cost, next-generation Sim XXI, aimed at the business and regional jet markets. Business jet training is dominated by FlightSafety International, which continues to bolster its fleet with simulators built in-house, most recently adding its first Cessna Citation CJ2, third Citation Excel and second Raytheon Hawker 800XP aircraft. Dallas/Fort Worth-based GE Capital SimuFlite is also expanding, adding five simulators this year, including its first Citation Excel and Raytheon Beechjet machines. Low-cost provider SimCom is opening a training centre in Orlando, Florida. It will house business jet simulators relocated from parent Pan Am International Flight Academy in Miami, plus a Hawker 800 machine SimCom itself is building for installation in April. in the Dubai centre when it opens early in 2003. CAE has doubled training rev enue forecasts for next year to C$200 million. Its first centre opened in Sao Paulo in April, and sites in Madrid and Toronto will open in December. A Denver centre will open in June, with Air Wisconsin as anchor-tenant. Frontier Airlines has signed a five-year deal for A320 training in Denver. The Toronto centre's anchor- tenant, Canada 3000, ceased oper ating earlier this month, but CAE has signed up Air Transat for two years of A320 training there and inked a 10-year agreement with Air Canada Regional, under which a Bombardier Dash 8-100/300 sim ulator will be located in Toronto and another in western Canada. CAE acquired four existing cen tres from Schreiner Aviation Train ing in August, and will add Boeing 737NG and Fairchild Dornier 328JET simulators at the Dallas, Texas, site next year. Burney says CAE will make "12 to 15" simulators for its own use this financial year. Algeria's Khalifa Airways has placed a $70 million order for four flight simulators with CAE REGIONAL JETS NLX enters new market NLX's sale of an Avro RJX simulator to the aircraft's manufacturer, BAE Systems, signals the US company's entry into the regional jet market. The Level D-capable simu lator will be delivered to BAE's regional aircraft customer training centre in Woodford, UK, in early 2003. After penetrating the busi ness jet market with the sale of five Level D simulators to GE Capital SimuFlite, Sterling, Virginia-based NLX had tar geted regional jets as its next niche. The first of the SimuFlite simulators, for the Raytheon Beechjet, entered training last month. Two more will be delivered this year. NLX is working with Thales Training & Simulation on the RJX simulator. The two com panies are collaborating on two more business jet simula tors for the Dassault Falcon 900 and 2000, which will be delivered to SimuFlite in 2003. With regionals forecast to fare better than majors in the slump, regional jet training is expected to stay on track. Pan Am's regional airline centre has opened in Dulles, Virginia, with simulators for the BAe 146, Bombardier CRJ, Fairchild Dornier 328JET, and Jetstream 31/32 and 41 turboprops. A CRJ flight training device (FTD) is among 16 purchased by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University from Frasca Inter national in a $9.8 million deal, paving the way for a new ab initio curriculum next year. The CRJ FTD will be used for advanced training at the Daytona Beach campus. The other devices will simu late the Cessna 172 and Piper Seminole, and will reduce training time in the aircraft from 90% to 60%, with 40% being in the FTDs. Embry- Riddle says its integrated curriculum will "dramatically" reduce the time and cost of airline pilot qualification. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 27 NOVEMBER - 3 DECEM BER 2001 27
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