State-run Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC, 漢翔航空) yesterday said it would supply train-driving simulators to Hong Kong’s MTR Corp Ltd (香港鐵路) under a nine-year contract, which it estimated would generate more than NT$170 million (US$5.86 million) in revenue for the company.
AIDC said it would supply customized train-driving simulators to MTR in the nine years until March 2021, and assist the company in training new drivers with its training and simulation technologies.
The company said its simulators would be deployed at three different maintenance stations along the MTR’s South Island Line and the Shatin-to-Central Link, and that it would be responsible for the design, manufacture, packaging, testing and follow-up maintenance of the simulators.
“We are still in negotiations with MTR about the design and quantity,” AIDC spokesperson Mike Lee (李適彰) said by telephone. “As far as I know, AIDC will ship a few models next year to see if MTR needs us to supply more or not. It depends on their demand and our mass production capabilities.”
AIDC regards the MTR contract as its biggest-ever success.
The company said it was not easy for a military aircraft component manufacturer to provide train-driving simulators based on flight-training models, viewing the deal as a demonstration to its clients that AIDC products are “guaranteed.”
“We have long committed to expanding our business by providing diverse services to clients other than airline companies,” Lee said.
“It will be the first time we have supplied train-driving simulators to a foreign railway corporation following our partnership with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp [台北捷運], Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp [台灣高鐵] and Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp [高雄捷運],” he said.
“MTR’s recognition proves that our technologies have met international standards,” Lee said.
The latest deal came after AIDC obtained more than NT$750 million in orders from Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd during the Japan International Aerospace Exhibition last month, deals which are also expected to boost company revenues over the next five years, Lee said.
Under that deal, AIDC is manufacturing 25 components for the center section of the wing used on Boeing 747-8 aircraft for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, while it is producing movable wing components for the Embraer ERJ-190 aircraft for Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Lee said.
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