Today, the world's leading turboprop manufacturer ATR officially inaugurated its new Training Center in Miami, Florida, US. This new facility is equipped with a brand new Full Flight Simulator (FFS) for ATR -600 series aircraft, provided by CAE. The new ATR Training Center, located at the Airbus training premises, is especially oriented to current and future ATR operators on the American continent.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the fleet of ATR aircraft has doubled within the last decade, and the number of ATR -600s is expected to exceed 100 aircraft within the next three years. The opening of this new training facility at one of the key hubs in America falls in line with ATR's customer support strategy aiming to provide pilot training solutions close to its customers.

The new Miami facility brings to five the number of ATR training centers, after Toulouse, Paris, Singapore and Johannesburg. ATR currently delivers over 100,000 training hours and trains over 3,500 pilots each year on its different programs.

Miami will apply the same standards and provide the same leading-edge training courses as Toulouse, including Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) for ATR -600s. The Training Center in Miami holds both EASA and FAA Part 142 Certifications.

Christian Scherer, ATR's Chief Executive Officer, declared: "Due to the global expansion of air transport, airlines are expected to need 600,000 new pilots within the next 20 years. As the world reference in the regional market, we have to provide and anticipate solutions for regional carriers. The Training Center in Miami is a natural step in our aim of being as close as possible to our operators in the region, and a strategic move to reenter the U.S. market."

Contributed by ATR