Diamond Aircraft, of Austria, announced this week at the Middle East Business Aviation Association Show in Dubai they have agreed to sell 60 airplanes, including both the single-engine DA40 NG and the DA42-VI twin, over the next five years to the Saudi National Company of Aviation’s CAE Authorized Training Center. The new 10-acre center, announced at last year’s show, is based at King Fahad International Airport in Dammam, the kingdom’s third largest city. Deliveries of the first 12 Diamond airplanes will begin in February.
The two airplane types represent the newest versions of Diamond’s piston aircraft fleet, the company said. The aircraft are equipped with jet-fuel piston Austro engines and Garmin G1000 NXi avionics systems. “This purchase agreement is one of the largest in history of aviation academies in Saudi Arabia and perhaps the Middle East region,” said Anthony Miller, director of business development at the SNCA-CAE center. “We at SNCA-CAE Authorized Training Center are determined to provide the aviation industry with highly qualified male and female pilots that are able to advance within the aviation industry and serve as an integral tool for development in the region.”
