Canadian training and simulation provider CAE’s Dubai operation is a runaway success, group president Jeff Roberts tells Brendan Gallagher
Q How much does your Dubai training centre contribute to the overall business?
We’ve got over a hundred revenue-earning simulators in operation around the world. Ten of them, soon to rise to twelve, are here in Dubai. We also train close to 20,000 people here every year, out of a total of 75,000-100,000 worldwide. So it’s a very significant part of our business. We started here over four years ago, and since then we haven’t stopped growing – a couple of simulators have been added every year on average.
Q How do you expect your Dubai business to evolve?
We have recorded double-digit annual growth since we started and we expect this to continue. I feel very good about our prospects here: there are a significant number of operators in the region and their fleets are all growing, and if you cast the net wider there have been a number of start-ups elsewhere. So we feel very bullish – it’s been a great experience so far and one that has exceeded all our expectations.
Q Why did you partner with Emirates?
Because they’re progressive, forward-thinking and very customer-oriented. They believe that this part of the world should play an increasingly significantly role in the overall aviation system, and they embrace technology accordingly. And they’re willing to back all that up with capital investment and infrastructure. At the operational level they have been very good at communicating the issues they face, and that helps us when we go out to work with other airlines. Finally, the Emirates name carries with it a credibility and a standard that is very complementary to our own brand.
Q What does Emirates get out of the collaboration?
They see us as a technology leader in simulation and training, and they’re keen to apply that to their own operation. They also saw value in developing their own training capability, and in broadening their business offering as a whole. What we are doing together is a new business opportunity and a new revenue stream for Emirates.
Q Does Emirates place any limits on your serving its competitors?
No. That’s one of the things that is so refreshing about them – their pragmatism. They like competition, they believe that you have to rely on the quality of your own capabilities if you want to win.
Q Do you have similar relationships with other airlines?
We’re doing things with Air Canada, JetBlue, China Southern, EasyJet and others. These relationships are similar to the one with Emirates, but also to some degree different because they’re all looking to support different business models. So while our collaboration with Emirates continues to deepen and broaden, it’s not fundamentally different from those we have with other carriers.
Q You recently installed a Global Express simulator here. Where are those trainees coming from?
A typical cross-section of business-jet operators – corporations, high-net-worth individuals, charter operators. All of the various segments that exist in business aviation are represented and are being served by that programme.
Q Do you have any plans to provide Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 training here?
Emirates is buying two A380 simulators from us. As for serving third parties, the market will dictate if and when we deploy an A380 or a 787 simulator in Dubai. If there proves to be a market for training among operators who don’t own their own simulators, we will certainly serve it. Ultimately, the decision will be driven by the sum of both airline and VIP/corporate business. It doesn’t matter to us where the aircraft come from – we’ll deal with whatever comes.
Q You are putting your first Very Light Jet simulator into Dallas, Texas. How do you see the VLJ training market developing in the Middle East?
We’re now past the stage of wondering whether there will be a VLJ market or not. It’s real and it’s going to have a number of segments – one will be the owner-operators, another the air-taxi companies. I think those segments will probably emerge eventually here in the Gulf. But if I knew exactly when that might happen, the VLJ guys would be knocking on my door and offering me a bunch of money for the information.
Q Can you see there ever being a need for a location in another part of this region?
Yes. As a company we remain wide open to further opportunities in the Gulf. We like this region, we’re already successful here, and we believe it’s a part of the world where multiple additional opportunities are likely to arise.
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Source: Flight Daily News
