CAE Inaugurates Training Centre in India

CAE inaugurated its new aerospace and defence complex in Bangalore on February in the presence of representatives of India's airlines and defence forces, Canada's High Commission to India, as well as company executives and employees. Located close to Bengaluru International Airport, the complex is headquarters for CAE's operations in India and home to a majority of its India-based employees. In the 116 000 square-foot complex, CAE designs and develops defence training systems for India's defence forces and operates an engineering centre of excellence where visual databases and other software components for CAE's simulators are developed. The facility also houses CAE's Bangalore aviation training centre, the first independent aviation training centre in India. The six-bay capacity centre currently offers Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 pilot training on three CAE-built full-flight simulators. More than 1,500 pilots trained at the centre last year, including pilots from Indian-based airlines such as Air India, Go Air, IndiGo, Kingfisher Airlines, Spicejet and commercial pilots of the Indian Air Force. Other customers include Fly Wings Aviation and SriLankan Airlines. The training centre is part of the CAE-Airbus Training Services Cooperation agreement. India is of strategic importance to CAE and the new aerospace and defence complex demonstrates the Company's commitment to India. CAE has been active in the Indian market for the past 40 years, starting with the sale of simulators, and now offers comprehensive training solutions for India's civil aviation and defence markets. CAE's workforce in India has grown from 13 employees in 2004 to more than 300 today.