CAE and AirAsia partner on training center

CAE and AirAsia have expanded a prior partnership into a joint venture to provide training for maintenance engineers, technicians, pilots, cabin crew and ground services personnel for airlines throughout the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, including AirAsia’s. The partnership began in 2007 when the two signed a contract in which CAE had responsibility for managing AirAsia’s type rating training organization to train AirAsia’s current and future pilots at its AirAsia Academy in Kuala Lumpur. The new agreement establishes the Asian aviation centre of excellence in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and will combine assets from both parties, including six CAE-built full-flight simulators (FFS), three previously owned by AirAsia and three by CAE, Jeff Roberts, CAE group president, civil simulation products, training and services, told AIN. They include four Airbus A320 FFSs, one A330/340 and one Boeing 737 Classic. “We estimate we will train approximately 3,000 to 4,000 crewmembers per year with our existing capacity for both AirAsia and third-party airline customers in the ASEAN region,” Roberts said.