CAE expects to complete the acquisition of Schreiner Aviation Training this month, adding four simulator centres in Europe and the USA to its growing network of commercial flight training centres. Since agreeing the Schreiner acquisition in May, the Canadian company has announced deals to set up centres in Colorado, Denver and Dubai, taking its network to nine centres.
Company-owned training centres are operational or near completion in São Paulo, Brazil; Toronto, Canada; and Madrid, Spain. The C$260 million ($169 million) Schreiner acquisition will add two existing centres in the Netherlands, one in Brussels and one in Dallas, Texas. Last month, CAE announced plans for a Denver centre, anchored by US regional Air Wisconsin, and a Dubai-based joint venture with local airline Emirates, Qatar Airways being the first client.
CAE and Emirates will share the C$90 million initial investment equally. The centre, with room for 12 simulators, will initially house six ACE-built machines, including an Airbus A319/A320, an A330/A340 and a Boeing Next Generation 737. The new centre, adjacent to Emirates' current training facility, will open in the first quarter of 2003.
US training provider Flight Safety International (FSI), meanwhile, is expanding, with plans to own and operate simulators in Brazil and France. Varig's Rio de Janeiro training centre is to receive an FSI-built Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet simulator in a 10-year deal to provide training to the carrier. In 2002, a Lyon-based FSI-built Raytheon Beech 1900D regional turboprop simulator will provide training for European, Middle Eastern and African operators in partnership with Business and Commuter Aircraft.
Source: Flight International
