As one of the world’s leading training and simulator providers, CAE (Booth P98) already operates more than 300 of its own full-flight simulators (FFSs) in 70-plus locations. CAE’s announcement on Monday at EBACE concerning the creation of a new training center in Vienna, Austria, highlights the company’s push to expand its training capacity in the business aviation sector. While the Vienna center will increase capacity in Europe, CAE is also expanding in other regions.
Recently, a new center opened in Singapore with a Gulfstream G650 simulator and additional services are to be added soon. The company’s Las Vegas facility is now operational providing instruction on the Gulfstream IV, V, G550, and G650; Bombardier Global 7500; and Embraer ERJ-145 and Phenom 300. A new facility is going live in the late third quarter at the Simcom Lake Nona training center in Orlando, Florida. This 12-bay training center will have G650, Bombardier Challenger 350, and Phenom 300 full-flight simulators, but also adds a Challenger 3500 sim and two for the Embraer Praetor 600.
A notable development is the creation of a new center alongside the Gulfstream campus in Savannah, Georgia. Here, CAE will station its first full-flight simulator for the G280 and also conduct maintenance training on a range of Gulfstreams. The latter will include the use of virtual reality, which the company has been developing for some time as a tool in technician training for specific aircraft and systems.
CAE continues to support new business aircraft types as they enter service. Following the implementation last year of the company’s first Falcon 8X simulator at its Burgess Hill center in southern England, the world’s only Falcon 6X full-flight simulator is now operational at the same location. A second Global 6500 sim is due to enter service in Dubai next month, while Global 7500 flight training devices are scheduled for operation in Dubai and Montreal in the third quarter.