Avianca Holdings SA and CAE have signed an agreement to create a joint venture specialising in providing training services, including full-flight simulator training for commercial aviation pilots in Colombia.
As part of a 15-year training agreement, Avianca will conduct all its pilot training at the Avianca-CAE joint venture (JV).
The creation of the equally-owned JV was approved in May by Colombia’s Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC).
The Avianca-CAE Flight Training company will provide Airbus A320, A330, ATR and Boeing 787 training in Bogota on seven full-flight simulators (FFS). Four simulators are already in operation and three additional CAE-built simulators will be deployed.
The Avianca-CAE initial investment will be approximately US$70 million, shared equally.
“With this company, training of Avianca’s pilots will be carried out locally, which implies that they will not have to travel to other countries to acquire this service, improving their quality of life and optimising training times,” said Hernan Rincon, CEO of Avianca.
“This new joint venture will significantly increase the number of flight simulators available in Latin America, benefiting not only Avianca but all airlines operating in the region.”
Rincon added that this company, along with other projects such as the MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Centre) in Medellin and the OEC (Operational Excellency Centre) in Bogota, “will allow Avianca to stay on track in positioning Colombia as a centre for specialised aviation services with leading-edge technology, and will make Avianca the greatest generator of currency for the region.”
The JV is expected to start operations in late summer 2018, subject to regulatory approvals.
Expanding relationship with Jetstar Japan
CAE is also expanding its pilot training relationship with low-fare airline Jetstar Japan, announcing a new six-year pilot training agreement to support the airline’s Airbus A320 pilot training needs in Japan.
An Airbus A320 full-flight simulator (FFS) built by CAE will be ready for training this summer at the CAE Tokyo/JAL-CAE Flight Training (JCFT) centre at Haneda Airport, Tokyo.
For the first time since its 2012 launch, the airline will train its pilots in Japan at the JCFT centre. Previously, pilots had been training at CAE’s centres in Kuala Lumpur and Seoul.
Through this agreement, Jetstar Japan will become a launch customer for the CAE Rise training system. The Jetstar Group and CAE have a relationship spanning 15 years.
