Rome Urbe airport, Italy-based Urbe Aero Flight Academy has placed a large order for the purchase of eight brand-new training aircraft from Diamond Aircraft, one DA42-VI twin engine and seven DA40 NG single engine aircraft.

Urbe Aero Flight Academy believes innovation and technology are key to success, and aims to offer a high level training from even the earliest stages. These fleet additions are not only modern, safe and reliable training aircraft but they also have a lower environmental impact; equipped with Garmin G1000 NXi glass cockpits and powered by efficient 168 hp Austro AE300 jet-fuel engines, they burn up to 50 per cent less lead-free fuel and operate more quietly than conventional Avgas powered aircraft.

“Thanks to our shareholders' vision and passion for continuous innovation, our flight academy is now able to make this important acquisition to cope with current and future partnerships with European airlines,” says accountable manager professor Lorenzo Mezzadri. “The growth of our organisation in the last 12 years, and the huge number of young pilots we have been able to prepare for the major airlines, is clear evidence of our high level of service. With this investment our fleet will reach 19 Diamond aircraft; three DA42-VI, seven DA20-C1 and nine DA40 NG. Our continuous growth and these new projects would not have been possible without our important collaboration with Diamond Aircraft, which we believed in from the very beginning.”

“Urbe Aero Flight Academy has been benefiting tremendously from operating aircraft by the same manufacturer for both multi and single engine training. Fleet commonality offers more advantages, such as minimised instructor standardisation, rapid student transition and reduced parts inventories. We are delighted about its successful development and are proud to be part of this exciting journey to move the aviation industry forward,” adds Diamond sales director Jane Wang.

The academy has also bought an Alsim AL42 simulator, an exact replica of the Diamond DA42, built using genuine aircraft parts and equipped with the latest real-world Garmin G1000 avionics suite. It also comes with the latest generation visual system, GFC 700 autopilot and PBN/LPV capabilities.

“After a careful selection by the whole team of Urbe Aero Flight Academy, we have decided to start this cooperation with Alsim," says Mezzadri. "We were absolutely impressed by the realism of the AL42 simulator in terms of the flight model, immersive graphics, control load system and by the responsiveness of the instructor operating station software. Our aim is to always provide cadets the most advanced tools in order to successfully prepare them for the career of commercial pilots in the best European airlines: we are sure that the new AL42 will be greatly appreciated by our airline partners and our cadets.”

Alsim sales director Audrey Jeffroy adds: “It has been an absolute pleasure working with the Urbe Aero Flight Academy team over the past few months. We are extremely happy and proud to welcome the company among our customers and would like to thank it for its confidence.”