Hainan brings sparkle to training school as Diamond DA40 deliveries begin

Hainan Airlines'' new flying school has started taking delivery of Chinese-built Diamond DA40s and has received six of the 23 piston singles it has on order with the Austrian airframer.

The DA40s are manufactured by Bin Ao Aircraft''s Binzhou City facility in Shandong Province. The company says it has only sold the DA40 to Chinese customers so far, although it is permitted to export the four-seat aircraft to other Asian countries.

Based in Yichang city in central China''s Hubei province, the Hainan training facility - which recently received Chinese civil aviation authority approval - is one of the very few schools in China that caters to the commercial airline industry. The shortage of training institutions has at times led to a lack of pilots to serve China''s booming airline industry.

Meanwhile, CAE has acquired an 53% stake in the China Southern West Australian Flying College near Perth, Western Australia and will manage the pilot training school as part of its 11-strong CAE Global Academy network.