LAHORE: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has acquired a state-of-the-art Airbus A320 simulator for pilot training, refresher courses, and air safety.
The simulator would lead to safer training and cost savings for the local airlines, as they have to spend a significant amount of money on training their pilots overseas.
The state-of-the-art digital 7E Evolution Airbus A320 Full Flight Simulator, acquired from L3Harris Technologies, will be installed at the PIA Training Centre in Karachi.
Currently, the national flag carrier operates 11 Airbus A320 aircraft. The simulator will not only benefit PIA’s own pilots who fly Airbus A320 but also other Pakistani airlines like Airblue and AirSial that use the aircraft. Pakistan has 670 Airbus A320 pilots.
PIA previously used to get training of pilots of A320 aircraft in Bangkok, Thailand, and other countries at very high costs and also payments in foreign currencies. The airline will now have foreign currency inflows. The A320 aircraft is widely used by PIA and other airlines in the region and its numbers are increasing, a PIA spokesman added.
Meanwhile, CEO PIA, Air Marshal Arshad Malik congratulated PIA officials on the commencement of installation work at the Training Centre and instructed the officials to complete the installation within the shortest time period for maximum utilization.
He said that the simulator building complex offers lesser rates in the region than others for training on the upgraded B777 simulator, which is at par with international standards; this new simulator would bring in additional revenue by offering training to other airlines crew apart from training to PIA crew at low costs.
The A320 flight simulator will be used for the training of more than 400 pilots. He further said that there is great demand for training on the A320 Flight simulator as A320 is being regarded as a narrow body economical fuel-efficient aircraft being utilized the world over and also in this region. With the commencement of training, it is expected that PIA will break even on the capital expenditure in the next five years. The Simulator Training Complex imparts training to PIA cockpit crew as well as of other airlines at the most competitive prices and flexible schedules. The Training Centre is adjacent to PIA Hotel thereby providing security, convenience, and affordable stay.
The new flight simulator addition, Reality Seven Full Flight Simulator supplied by L3Harris is the first of its kind simulator in Pakistan and will significantly enhance PIA’s in-house pilot training capabilities.
