Airbus

Airbus and Singapore Airlines (SIA) have inaugurated a new flight crew training centre, Airbus Asia Training Centre (AATC), in Singapore.

Jointly owned by Airbus (55%) and SIA (45%), AATC has become the fourth Airbus flight crew training centre worldwide, alongside Toulouse, France; Miami, US; and Beijing, China.

Spanning over an area of 9,250m², the newly opened centre provides type rating and recurrent training courses for all in-production Airbus craft.

Once fully operational, the new AATC will claim to be Airbus’ largest flight crew training facility, with eight full-flight simulators, including three A350 XWBs, one A380, two A330s and two A320s.

The centre will also have six fixed cockpit training devices and classroom facilities, capable of providing courses for more than 10,000 trainees a year.

Airbus president and CEO Fabrice Brégier said: "The new centre combines the expertise of our two companies to offer the highest standards of training for the growing flight crew population in the Asia-Pacific region.

"Our investment in this joint venture is another example of our commitment at Airbus to bring our support services closer to our customers around the world, and especially in the key growth markets."

AATC started operations last April and was temporarily providing courses at the SIA Training Centre, located near Changi Airport, Singapore, before the opening of the new centre.

All operations are gradually being transferred to the facility, located at Seletar Aerospace Park in Singapore.

"Our investment in this joint venture is another example of our commitment at Airbus to bring our support services closer to our customers around the world."

Instructors for the centre have initially been recruited from Airbus and Singapore Airlines, with additional recruitment currently in profre.

Airbus stated that 17 airlines from Asia and the Pacific region have already signed up to use the services of AATC, which provides similar courses to the existing Airbus flight crew training centres.

The company also expects that the Asia-Pacific region will lead demand for new aircraft over the coming years, with the in-service fleet growing from nearly 5,600 aircraft today to 14,000 over the next two decades.

The active flight crew population employed by airlines in the region are also expected to increase from more than 65,000 to around 170,000, creating demand for flight crew training services.

Apart from the existing flight crew training centres, Airbus currently has engineering and maintenance training centres in Hamburg, Germany and Bangalore, India.

The company also has agreements with third-party service providers to provide Airbus training courses at its facilities.

Image: Spanning over an area of 9,250m², the new centre provides type rating and recurrent training courses for all in-production Airbus types. Photo: courtesy of Airbus.