Eurocopter's new training center in Singapore only officially opened this month but bookings for pilot instruction have been rolling in.

Bookings in hand number five so far and come from customers not only in the Asia-Pacific region but also from the Middle East. The countries represented in the pilot training books are Australia, Bangladesh, India, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.

A total of 38 pilots will be trained on the Dauphin AS365 N3/N3+ full flight simulator as a result of the booking, Eurocopter South East Asia said. A number have already begun instruction, while a total of 100 are expected to do so by the end of the year.

The company, a subsidiary of Eurocopter in France, said it expects to achieve its target of 3,000 FFS training hours annually in four years' time.

"Safety has always been a top priority for Eurocopter," said Bernhard Brenner, president and chief executive officer of Eurocopter South East Asia. "This full flight simulator will provide Dauphin pilots with high quality training in a completely safe environment.

"With the FFS located in a strategic location like Singapore, we will be able to provide our customers, as well as customers of other Eurocopter subsidiaries, with specialized training services at shorter turnaround times and lower costs as well."

The Dauphin S365 is a medium-weight, multi-purpose, twin-engine aircraft. It has a maximum speed of 190 miles per hour, a ferry range of more than 500 miles and a service ceiling of more than 19,000 feet.

It is used by commercial and government customers in some 22 countries for transport (it can carry 11 passengers plus crew), search-and-rescue, law enforcement and emergency medical operations.

It comes in about nine civil variants and two military variants.

The Eurocopter South East Asia Training Center is aimed for servicing Asia-Pacific and Middle East pilots but the company said it is also available for use by customers worldwide.

The Dauphin AS365N3/N3+ full flight simulator has FFS Level B and FTD Level 3 dual certification from the French Civil Aviation Authority in accordance with the European JAR/EASA criteria.

The dual certification concept was chosen by Eurocopter as the best balance between high-quality training and a reasonable price per flight hour.

The FFS simulator allows operators to perform initial and recurrent type training and specific training, such emergency procedures, instrument flight rules, offshore and search-and-rescue operations.

Night flying, flights over mountainous regions and low-altitude navigation instruction are also provided.

The Singapore training facility is the 17th FFS Eurocopter has established. Eurocopter South East Asia, established in 1977, is the company's regional headquarters.