Continuing their global expansion and investment in Europe, CAE inaugurated their latest aviation training centre in London Gatwick, on the 1st of October, 2019.

Equipped with state-of-the-art flight simulators, the new centre provides advanced training facilities for Europe-based airlines, including easyJet, with whom CAE signed a 10-year exclusive pilot training agreement in 2018.

On a daily basis, the CAE London Gatwick training centre have the capacity to host over 500 people a day, including pilots, cabin crew, and technicians. The centre is currently the home to seven CAE 7000XR Series full flight simulators (FFS) from the Airbus A320-family, A350 and Airbus A330 platforms. By the end of 2020 that number will increase to 13 full-flight simulators. CAE will add a new Boeing 787 simulator and relocate five full-flight simulators from the current CAE Gatwick centre ;  two A320, one B757/767, one B737NG, and one E190.

The new aviation centre is capable of training around 13,000 pilots a year, supporting the demand for commercial pilots, that continues to grow at an accelerated pace. For Marc Parent, President and CEO of CAE, “These new training centres and our expansion in Europe underscore the important role that CAE plays in helping the industry build and grow a strong pipeline of professional pilots.”

Nick Leontidis, Group President of Civil Aviation Training Solutions, CAE said “We will need more than 300,000 more pilots over the course of the next ten years. We are here today at London Gatwick centre, that will be equipped with 13 simulators, to serve many companies. We also inaugurated a centre in Manchester and we will open another one this month in Milan. That’s a lot of expansion to fit this pilot demand.”

It was an historical day for easyJet, according to David Morgan, the airline’s interim Chief Operations Officer,“we are delighted to be celebrating the launch of this brand-new, state of-the-art pilot training facility”. In addition to the full flight simulators, easyJet will be the first airline to use two, new generation of fixed flight training devices, the CAE600XR.

“We know that a key element of success is to have the very latest standard of training devices, which accurately reflect the modern fleet of aircraft that we have.

We are delighted to be partnered with CAE as a trusted manufacturer and training provider. We are confident that this partnership will ensure that easyJet pilots will continue to be regarded as the best pilots in the world.”

CAE is a recognised contributor to the local economy in and around Gatwick. Henry Smith, Member of Parliament (MP) for Crawley expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the civil aviation training leader, “I’d like to thank CAE for their commitment and investment in Crawley and the Gatwick economy. It’s wonderful that you work alongside airlines that invest in our local economy, our young people and the future.”

Sarah Fountain-Smith the Deputy High Commissioner for Canada in the UK expressed her pride in CAE’s achievements, “I am proud and thankful to CAE for its contribution it’s made to the Canadian global aviation industry.”

CAE London Gatwick is one of three new aviation training centres in Europe that will provide high-tech and advanced pilot training facilities for experienced pilots and cadets.

To follow the experiences of the pilots at the centre, follow the CAE Pilot Instagram and Facebook accounts.