KAMPALA: The first ever flight training simulator in Uganda, which is expected to ease pilot training, has been launched.
The new Redbird Caravan G-1000 flight training simulator was launched on Friday by Airserv Limited, one of Uganda’s leading providers of aircraft.
Johnson Mugulusi, the Managing Director Airserv, said the simulator will lower training costs.
“The budget on fuel will greatly go down because training on the aircrafts was highly expensive because of fuel. Wear and tear will also reduce because the simulator is static, but can do all a pilot will do when operating the aircraft,” Mugulusi said.
“The war between Russia and Ukraine has brought a lot of challenges for aviation and global economy, but specifically for aviation some of the challenges we are facing is high fuel crisis, insurance premium has gone through the roof. Shortage of critical spare parts, cost of spare parts have gone up,” he added.
Fred Bamwesigye, the Director General of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority hailed the acquisition of the simulator as “a big milestone.”
He added that it comes “at a time when there’s still a gap in aviation skills” before predicting that it “will bridge the gap in fuel crisis.”
Flight Captain James Lwanga Ssempewo, the Director Flight Operation Airserv said: “We used to do training on the aircraft, but each hour on the aircraft if put in the air cost about Shs4,332,000, which is quite expensive.”
The simulator will bring down the cost of training to Shs570,000 per hour, according to Flight Captain Ssempewo. He further revealed that it cost $250,000 to install the simulator.
