Aircraft choice
A fleet of Senecas or Seminoles would not have been the answer to what DAE were looking for. The airlines have been saying they want pilots who have been trained in an airline orientated environment, with glass cockpit exposure. DAE wants to take that a step further and introduce real jet time from the start. These EA500s are going to be put to good use.
I know the academy are talking to aviation authorities in the region as they plan on flying abroad with their EA500s. This was something they reiterated. They want their students to fly pressurized jets, charting international airways, crossing FIR boundaries, and landing at foreign airports. What flight school offers such experiences as part of their CPL/IR training?
Traditional multi-engined trainers would simply not deliver. DAE are taking a different approach to flight training and they've obviously got the money to do so.
SR22s don't come cheap either - they cost over $1/4 million a pop!