OREANDA-NEWS. May 31, 2008. As part of a program to train aircraft crews, Sibir Airlines (the S7 Airlines brand), Russia’s largest air carrier by number of transported passengers on domestic routes, will receive two Thales full flight simulators for training pilots on airplanes of the Airbus A320 family, reported the press-centre of S7 Airlines.

Both flight simulators will be installed at S7 Training, the company’s own training center located near Domodedovo International Airport. They are the first full flight simulators at the center, which will be used to train pilots**. The equipment has the highest level of flight simulator certification (level “D”) in accordance with the rules of the international aviation authorities. This level of certification makes it possible to conduct all types of pilot training. The first flight simulator will be commissioned in December 2008, and the second in the fourth quarter of 2009.

“Such flight simulators are practically non-existent in Russia. Installing the most modern equipment in our training center allow us to improve the training of aircraft crews and solve the most complex issues associated with ensuring flight safety during training. We chose Thales to supply the full flight simulators because of their flexible approach to work during the selection and installation of equipment, as well as their after-sale service,” said Oleg Vasiliev, Director of S7 Training.

“S7 Airlines is actively updating and expanding its fleet and we are pleased to have the opportunity to take part in this by providing high-quality equipment and advantageous servicing terms to such a large client as S7 Airlines,” said Chris Gane, Vice President of the Training and Flight Simulators unit of Thales.

Thales and Sukhoi are currently developing and implementing training equipment for flight crews of the new Russian SuperJet 100 airliner.