not much to keep that Sim busy.
Mmm, interesting viewoint! I often used to think as I wondered out at 04:00 for the 5th day on the trot - "thank God they aren't busy here, or we'd be getting really crap slot times"
The BHL business model would probably make sense without any 3rd party customers, given the volume of training they have internally (don't forget BHL Norway.) With CHC Europe too, it will clearly be very successful. However, that doesn't mean FSI's choice of location wasn't sensible - if you assumed every customer would buy their own simulator, you would never put a sim anywhere! Farnborough is about 35 minutes from LHR and an hour from LGW. They have a large existing facility (13 FW simulators) with all the infrastructure and support in place, thus obviating the need to set up a stand alone facility. In any case, a stand alone facility needs at least 2 if not 3 devices to even get of the drawing board.
Customers currently come (after the exodus to BHL) from Saudi Arabia (16 aircraft,) Cougar, CHC Global, CHC Australia, CHC SAR, BSP, Gulf and others. It's a busy place, I assure you.
That being said, manufacturers and their allied simulator providers should be aware that the significant geographical distances involved in travelling to conduct training are increasingly a real bain. Increasingly, the attraction of cheaper (but generally no less functional) devices - such as the ones now in Aberdeen - is very real for operators large and small.
FSI and others should take note - Darwinism is alive and well and living in the world of FTDs
