Simaero's flight simulator training centre in India early next year plans 200 mn euro investments

    New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) French company Simaero plans to start its flight simulator training facility in the national capital early next year and invest about 200 million euros in India over ten years.
    On Tuesday, the company inked an agreement with Turkiye's Havelsan to acquire its first A320 neo simulator for the training centre, which will have a total of eight simulators in due course.
    Simaero India's General Manager Khushbeg Jattana on Tuesday said the training facility in Delhi is expected to be operational in early 2025 and will have the simulators for A320 neo, ATR 72-600 and B737 planes.
    According to him, there are plans to have a flight simulator for wide-body planes in India in 2026 or 2027.
    Apart from the Delhi facility, the French company -- a leading provider of pilot training on full-flight simulators and simulation engineering solutions -- has plans to set up two satellite training facilities.
    For its first simulator in India, Simaero has partnered with the Turkish manufacturer Havelsan. The agreement was signed between the two companies at a function in the national capital.
    India is one of the world's fastest growing aviation markets and domestic carriers have placed orders for around 1,500 planes that are to be delivered in the coming years.
    On Havelsan partnering with Simaero, Turkiye's Ambassador to India Firat Sunel said it is an important cooperation.
    "There are many fields of cooperation between India and Turkiye...we have close relations in commerce, health, agriculture, culture and tourism... we are expecting that our bilateral relations develop in a fast way," he told PTI.
    Havelsan CEO and President Mehmet Akif Nacar told PTI that it will be the first time that the company will be exporting a simulator outside Turkiye.
    Indian market is growing and the company is "open for any engagement in India but we must explore more", he said.
    Jattana also said the upcoming facility will provide high-quality, cost-effective training solutions, reducing the need for airlines to send pilots abroad for training, which is an expensive proposition.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)