ATR Sim Center Up and Running in Austria

Austria’s Farnair Training began operating a new Axis full-flight simulator for the ATR 42-300 and ATR 72-500 last month at its facility in Neusiedl am See, near the Hungarian border. Situated 25 nm from Vienna and 16 nm from Bratislava, the facility offers easy access to both those cities’ airports. The first airline customers include Germany’s Avanti Air, which began flying an ATR 72 to Berlin and Hamburg from Allgäu Memmingen Airport in Bavaria over the summer.

Based in Lebring, Austria, Axis Flight Training Systems developed the simulator in cooperation with Farnair, which invested some €10 million ($13 million) in the project. “Even if at first glance the cost for a brand-new simulator is slightly higher than for old machines, on the bottom line and considering all the facts and advantages, we will be able to save costs and in return have motivated and well trained pilots,” noted Avanti Air director of operations Markus Baumann.