CAE focuses on training centres with SimuFlite buy

GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC

Company is now second largest in hardware terms after Flight Safety International

Canadian simulator manufacturer CAE is to buy SimuFlite Training International from GE Capital for $247 million, making it the second largest provider of third-party flight-training services. The deal will be financed by the sale and leaseback of SimuFlite assets.

The acquisition is CAE's largest purchase since the company entered the training services market less than two years ago. Last year, the company purchased Schreiner Aviation Training of he Netherlands for around $165 million, acquiring four training centres in Europe and the USA, with around 20 commercial and regional aircraft simulators.

SimuFlite operates 23 business aircraft simulators at its main base in Dallas, Texas, and has another five on order for delivery this year. The company also operates a general aviation training centre in Grapevine, Texas, and a Lockheed Martin C-130 training facility in Marietta, Georgia. GE Capital acquired SimuFlite from Southern Air Transport in early 1998.

Montreal-based CAE is already setting up a global network of training centres serving commercial and regional airlines. The company has opened centres in Sïo Paulo, Brazil, and Toronto, Canada. Facilities will open in Madrid, Spain, this month and Denver, Colorado, in May. A joint training venture with Alitalia will begin operating in Rome this year, while another with Emirates is set to open in Dubai in 2003.

CAE president Derek Burney says that there is greater potential for growth in providing training services than in building hardware. Since entering the training services market, the company has moved rapidly up the rankings and is now second only to industry leader Flight Safety International (see table). The SimuFlite acquisition puts CAE ahead of the Flight Safety Boeing joint venture in numbers of simulators. Pan Am International Flight Academy is fourth, followed closely by GE Capital Aviation Training, which specialises in commercial aircraft training.

Source: Flight International