GAA signs lease deal for new A330 simulator for Bahrain

A signing ceremony took place at GAA’s facility in Muharraq where CEO Mahmood Al Balooshi, and Moath Al Shaikh, head of finance and accounts represented GAA, while Tadhamon Capital was represented by CEO Waleed Abdulla Rashdan, Ahmed Hatam Sultan, executive director treasury and capital markets, Ahmed Foaud Darwish, director of financial control and Maisarh Yaseen, principal treasury and capital markets.

The agreement is part of the “Tadhamon Aviation Equipment Fund” that was recently launched by Tadhamon Capital and is the company’s first Shari’ah compliant aviation fund established in Bahrain.  The fund has purchased the A330 full flight simulator and secured a five year operating lease agreement with GAA.

Speaking at the event Al Balooshi said, “We are very pleased to be partnering with Tadhamon Capital in such a key financial structure which the GAA is looking forward to improve in the future to assess the growth plans of the Academy”

“With the arrival of the new A330 FFS, the capacity of GAA’s full flight simulators will increase to five, which will enhance the Academy’s pilot training operations”

“GAA aims to provide top quality, end-to-end aviation training solutions to commercial airlines in the Middle East and North Africa region, and will continue to make investments that meet the growing regional demand for pilot training as well as create job opportunities and financial growth in Bahrain.”

Rashdan, said the deal was  “emblematic of the huge stride Tadhamon Capital has taken over the past few months. Programmes such as these will also increase demand for skilled Bahraini manpower in this particular sector and play a significant role in boosting the country’s economic growth under these challenging market conditions”

The CAE A330 FFS will be delivered in mid-2012 to GAA’s simulator centre, which currently includes two CAE 5000 Series A320 FFS, an A330/A340 FFS and an Embraer 170/190 FFS. The new A330 Simulator will incorporate a CAE TroposTM-6000 visual system and is scheduled to be fully operational by the end of August 2012.

PICTURED (L-R)  Mahmood Al Balooshi, Waleed Abdulla Rashdan, Maisarh Yaseen ,Ahmed Fouad Darwish, Ahmed Hatam and Moath Al Shaikh