Airbus, SIA open major new training centre in Singapore

Airbus and Singapore Airlines have opened a new aviation training centre in Singapore, which will provide flight simulation and educational facilities for every model of Airbus aircraft currently in production.

The new Airbus Asia Training Centre (AATC), which is 55% owned by Airbus and 45% by SIA, was officially opened on Monday in a ceremony attended by Fabrice Brégier, president & CEO Airbus, Goh Choon Phong, CEO of SIA, and S Iswaran, Singapore’s Minister of Trade & Industry.

The 9,250m² facility becomes Airbus’ largest flight crew training base, with eight full-flight simulators for the A320, A330, A350 and A380 aircraft. It will also have six fixed cockpit training devices and extensive classroom facilities, with a capacity of more than 10,000 trainees per year.

“The new centre combines the expertise of our two companies to offer the highest standards of training for the growing flight crew population in the Asia Pacific region,” said Fabrice Brégier, Airbus’ president & CEO. “Our investment in this joint venture is another example of our commitment at Airbus to bring our support services closer to our customers around the world, and especially in the key growth markets.”

SIA’s Goh added; “The new facility provides exceptional training on state-of-the-art equipment, ensuring that AATC is a true centre of excellence in the Asia-Pacific region. With hundreds more new Airbus aircraft on firm order by the region’s airlines, we are confident that AATC will go from strength to strength.”

Airbus and SIA were previously conducting their training from temporary facilities at the SIA Training Centre near Changi Airport. All operations will now be gradually transferred to the new centre, which is located at Seletar Aerospace Park.

The AATC in Singapore becomes the fourth Airbus flight training centre worldwide, alongside Toulouse, Miami and Beijing.