Continental Motors’ Zulu Flight Training opened its first international training center on Nov. 6 in Geneva, Switzerland. The company’s training model employs Redbird full-motion simulators in a retail setting away from the airport.
Zulu offers a private pilot certificate and an instrument rating syllabus that utilizes the simulators and scenario-based training. Its prototype location opened in Spanish Fort, Alabama, in 2012. The company claims student retention rates greater than 90 percent thanks to the combination of a specifically tailored curriculum available in a convenient location.
The company announced in April that it would be expanding overseas. Rather than using a fully integrated program with company-owned simulators and company instructors, Zulu is offering the business to franchisees, who will set up their facilities in city centers, and then offer it to other training organizations to use with their students. The company said it doesn’t wish to compete with aero clubs and training organizations, but rather offer them the opportunity to build a business partnership.