Virgin Blue Airlines Orders an Embraer 190 Full Flight Simulator from FlightSafety

May 21, 2007
The simulator will be located in the Virgin Blue-Alteon Training Center in Brisbane, Australia.

LA GUARDIA AIRPORT, NEW YORK (May 21, 2007) – FlightSafety International announced today that it has received a contract to manufacture an Embraer EMB 190 aircraft simulator from Virgin Blue Airlines. The simulator will be located in the Virgin Blue-Alteon Training Center in Brisbane, Australia.

FlightSafety is the leader in regional aircraft simulation and has manufactured and delivered over 80 flight simulators to date for aircraft built by the world's leading regional aircraft manufacturers.

This new EMB 190 simulator will bring the number of Embraer aircraft simulators built by FlightSafety to 32 once it enters service next year. It will feature FlightSafety's latest advances in technology including a VITAL visual system and electric motion and control loading.

"This order from Virgin Blue Airlines and the response from our other commercial and military customers as well as those that train at FlightSafety Learning Centers to our electric motion and control loading technology has been excellent," said Rick Armstrong, Vice President Simulation, FlightSafety International. "This is a clear demonstration of our leadership in simulation and our ability to manufacture, qualify and support innovative advanced technology training devices that meet the needs of our customers."

FlightSafety's electric motion and control loading equipped simulators offer enhanced performance and increased availability due to a reduction in maintenance requirements and increased reliability. The simulators also offer environmental advantages compared to previous generation devices as they produce less heat, lower levels of ambient noise and provide a safer environment due to the elimination of the risks often associated with hydraulic fluids as well as the dependency on petroleum products. This technology can reduce electricity consumption by up to 85% compared to hydraulic motion equipped simulators.

FlightSafety has produced electric motion and control loading equipped simulators for 19 fixed wing and helicopter types to date. These simulators have been qualified to the highest standards by the FAA, CAA, LBA, DGAC, and EASA aviation authorities and are in service at FlightSafety Learning Centers, military installations and commercial customer sites worldwide.

FlightSafety International is the world's premier aviation training organization. Over 75,000 pilots, technicians and other aviation professionals train at FlightSafety facilities each year. The company designs and manufactures full flight simulators for civil and military aircraft programs and operates the world’s largest fleet of advanced full flight simulators at 40 training locations.