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CAE joint venture to open helicopter training school in India

March 23, 2009, Montreal, CAE Inc. said Monday it plans to open a $60-million helicopter training centre in India as part of a joint venture next year.

The Canadian company, which builds flight simulators and provides training services, and partner Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. said they finalized contracts and confirmed financing to open the Bangalore centre by the second half of 2010.

The Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation Flying (HATSOFF) facility will use a CAE-built full-mission simulator that can employ cockpits representing various helicopter types.

When fully operational, the centre will be able to train up to 400 pilots annually and generate $20 million in revenues.

CAE chief operating officer Marc Parent said the centre “will  serve a critical need for enhancing safety and mission readiness by  offering high-quality simulation-based helicopter training programs  to India and the surrounding region.”

The centre will initially offer training for four types of civil and military helicopters – the Indian Army/Air Force variant of the HAL-built Dhruv, the civil version of the Dhruv, the Bell 412, and the Eurocopter Dauphin.

Montreal-based CAE is a world leading in aircraft simulators and training. It has annual revenues of $1.4 billion and employs about 7,000 people at more than 75 sites in 20 countries.

Its 27 training centres prepare 75,000 pilots annually.

Hindustan Aeronautics’s 35,000 employees design, produce, repair and upgrade aircraft, helicopters and avionics systems.
On the Toronto Stock Exchange, CAE shares gained 19 cents to $7.44 in afternoon trading, an increase of 2.6 per cent.