Dubai's Crown Prince inaugurates Emirates-CAE Flight Training Centre

The centre is also the first outside North America to offer pilot and maintenance training for the Hawker 800/800XP and the Gulfstream IV and V full flight simulators, and it will be adding a second Boeing 737NG/BBJ simulator to meet customer demand.

His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and the UAE's Minister of Defence, officially inaugurated the centre. He was accompanied by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman of Emirates; and Derek H. Burney, CAE's President and Chief Executive Officer.

Also attending the ceremony were VIPs and leading members of the international aviation industry.

The three-storey state-of-the-art facility is the result of an agreement signed in 2001 between Emirates and CAE. The 80,000-square-foot building is located next to Dubai International Airport. It is expected to employ more than 100 people by mid-2004.

The total investment from both parties is some $US100 million under a 10-year agreement. The centre's customers had been training previously at a facility in the Dubai Airport Free Zone.

Sheikh Ahmed commented: "Emirates is pleased to be part of this jointly-operated centre which has been at the forefront of the development of aviation training in the Gulf.

"This facility heralds a new era in aviation in the Middle East as the first flight training centre with dually approved type-rating. Our colleagues in the aviation industry, both within the region and further afield in Europe, Asia and Africa now have convenient access to the world's highest-possible training certifications."

"When CAE signed this agreement with Emirates, it signified a strategic move for CAE to expand its training network worldwide," said Derek H. Burney. "Today's ceremony speaks volumes about the success of this venture. Most important is that we are providing greater value to the region's aircraft operators by offering the highest-quality, fully certified, training closer to their home base."

The centre, which currently houses five full-flight simulators, can train up to 4,000 pilots annually. Its current commercial and business-jet airline customers include Arabasco, Emirates, Jet Aviation, Kuwait Airways, Middle East Airlines, Oman Air, Qatar Airways and Royal Jet.

The second Boeing 737NG/BBJ simulator will be installed in spring 2004.

When the new simulator is in operation, Emirates-CAE Flight Training will offer training on two Boeing 737NGs/BBJs, a convertible Hawker 800/800XP, a Gulfstream IV, a Gulfstream V, an Airbus A330/A340 and an Airbus A319/A320/A321/ACJ.

The Gulfstream devices and the second Boeing 737NG/BBJ will have a CAE Sim XXI™ platform, which is CAE's latest simulator technology designed to simplify assembly, test and integration, and to reduce life-cycle costs.

According to Dave Barette, the centre's Managing Director and an 18-year CAE employee: "The centre will showcase CAE's latest technologies, including the integrated procedures trainer from the CAE Simfinity™ line of products and services, as well as multimedia classrooms and briefing-debriefing rooms."

He added that the centre is conveniently located and offers all the service amenities that will help pilots focus on training, leaving all other details to the centre's dedicated client services staff.

The Emirates Group comprises Emirates Airline, Dnata (the largest travel services provider in the Middle East), and a number of commercial relationships, including the Emirates-CAE Flight Training Centre. Emirates, the world's fastest-growing intercontinental full service airline, flies to 71 destinations in 50 countries, and operates a fleet of Boeing and Airbus aircraft, with an average age of just three years.

CAE offers aviation training to commercial, regional and business-jet operators in its global network of training centres, which operates more than 90 full-flight simulators, with 20 locations on four continents.

CAE is a leading provider of integrated training solutions and advanced simulation and controls technologies to civil aviation, military and marine customers. The company generates annual revenues in excess of C$1 billion and employs about 6,000 people in Canada, the United States and around the globe.

CAE is at booth No. E846 and Emirates at booth No. W520 at Dubai 2003, the 8th International Aerospace Exhibition, from 7th to 11th December.