AirAsia starts work on Simulator Complex

A ground breaking ceremony officiated by the Minister of Transport, Malaysia was held today to mark the plot of land where AirAsia’s new simulator building will be built to facilitate the airline’s pilot training exercises.

Located on plot Pt 25, adjacent to the Malaysian Airports Sepang Holding‘s engineering complex, the soon to be built two-storey simulator building spans a total of 53,782 sq ft with additional land capacity for future expansion. The new simulator building is expected to be completed by February 2005 and will be equipped with 6 full flight simulators, 2 of which are expected to be operational by April 2005. The building will also house a complete computer based training room, a multiple purpose hall which can be converted into classrooms, and rooms for training devices to cater for other training programs designed for AirAsia’s engineers, pilots and cabin crew members.

AirAsia had earlier signed a 10-year aviation training agreement with CAE, a leading provider of integrated training solutions and advanced simulation and control technologies to the aviation industry, to install and operate flight simulators to train Boeing 737-300/400/500 pilots.

YB Dato’ Pahamin A. Rajab, Chairman, AirAsia Berhad said, “This is yet another historic day for us all at AirAsia, for today, we mark the beginning of AirAsia’s first simulator building complex which is a testament of AirAsia’s dedication to provide quality training and development to our pilots. We started our own pilot training program with Malaysian Flying Academy to grow a ready pool of pilots in line with our expansion. The building of our very own simulator complex, further seals AirAsia’s commitment to not only produce pilots that will contribute to Malayisa’s aviation industry, but also to provide the necessary tools to give quality training for these pilots to ensure that the highest quality and safety standards are met.”

“CAE’s partnership with the leading low-cost carrier in Asia puts CAE in a strong position to seize a sizable portion of this growing market,” said Nick Leontidis, CAE’s Executive Vice-President, customers, civil simulation and training.

AirAsia presently uses simulators in London, Australia, Kunming and Zuhai in China, Jakarta, Manila and Malaysia for its pilot training exercise. AirAsia will be able to monitor the standards and conduct training in line with its own standard operating procedures, and enjoy savings by having its own simulator building.

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