AeronautX aims to make sim training less of an odyssey
The Amsterdam facility, just north of the airport, has cost about €40m ($44.7m) and has space for eight simulator bays.
Niall Olver started managing business jets more than 30 years ago – or “too long” – as he puts it. As CEO and chair, he grew ExecuJet from a small operator into a global company with FBOs, maintenance and a managed fleet of 165 aircraft before selling it to Luxaviation in 2015. (It was the biggest operator merger until Solairus and Clay Lacy this year).
He says one of his biggest frustrations has always been pilot training. “Ask any operator and they will tell you that they would like more choice,” Olver, chair of AX Aero Group tells us. “CAE and FlightSafety are both very competent, but they are also very big. We want to give people options and use the latest technology.”
Last week he announced the launch of a new business aviation training centre near Amsterdam Schiphol Airport run by a new company called AeronautX.
Olver became directly involved in the business of aviation training after the sale of ExecuJet. A friend had launched a company making simulators and he was asked to help. He ended up buying the company: AXIS Flight Simulation. This company will continue supplying simulators to other training companies like Aviation Academy Austria and operators like Vista Global.
“This is obvious vertical integration for our company and just what CAE and FlightSafety do,” Olver tells us. “AXIS Flight Simulation will continue supporting customers who are also giving operators choice.”
The Amsterdam facility, just north of the airport, has cost about €40m ($44.7m) and has space for eight simulator bays. It will open with two full-flight simulators. Bombardier Challenger 3500 training is slated to begin in March 2027 and Challenger 650 training will follow in July.
VistaJet owns one of the first two simulators, while AeronautX owns the other outright. Both will be managed and operated by AeronautX, with the VistaJet-owned simulator available to both companies to deliver their own training programmes. AeronautX plans to add more simulators soon.
AeronautX will offer initial type ratings, base training, line introduction, recurrent training and instructor training. Operators who want to use their own instructors can dry lease the simulators. Bookings and cancellation terms are flexible, with no upfront commitment of exclusivity.
The company says its instructors will have flown the types they teach. “We will engage instructors who have experience not just in business aviation, but in the type of the airplane that they train on,” said Jörg Oberhofer, founder and MD of AeronautX.
The centre will use systems trainers, including 3D and virtual reality tools. It will also have an AI debriefing platform that listens to crew communication and suggests competency upgrades. “The AI suggests the grading, the instructor makes the assessment,” said Rob Lascelles, a former CAE training executive who will manage the Amsterdam centre.
Olver, who is also chair of AXIS Aviation, an aircraft management company, is excited about taking on two large competitors. He adds: “We don’t expect to change the world overnight. It is about value. It is not about the price.”
