Leonardo is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its Helicopter Training Academy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The company reported that in its first year of operating, 200 students had been trained and nearly 1,500 full flight simulator (FFS) hours had been amassed. That number has since grown, with 450 students completing their training and 3,300 flight hours logged in 2023.
The focus on training in Malaysia comes as part of Leonardo's focus on “customer proximity” because Malaysia is a strategic hub for the Asian aerospace market and also helicopter missions.
Leonardo's presence in Malaysia includes a fleet of more than 220 helicopters amassing more than 40,000 flight hours a year. It started delivering localized maintenance and support services in 2007.
The company said its technical and maintenance services based in Malaysia—which include maintenance, repair, and overhaul, modification, upgrade, and reconfiguration, and blade repair—have contributed to a 170 percent helicopter fleet growth in Southeast Asia.
Leonardo is based in Rome and employs 51,000 people. In addition to its training academy in Malaysia, the company has operations in Italy, the UK, Poland, and the U.S. It was originally founded as Finmeccanica in 1948.