Canadian firm CAE sees Asian training centre use lift from China reopening

MONTREAL, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Aviation training specialist CAE Inc expects use of its training centers in Asia to ramp up in 2023 following China's recent border reopening, the company's chief executive said on Tuesday.

Travel is returning to China, the world's largest outbound tourism market worth $255 billion in 2019, after the country ended mandatory quarantines on Jan. 8.

Training centers in the region used largely by operators who fly in and out of China are gaining demand, Chief Executive Marc Parent told analysts after the company reported earnings.

“As that recovers we see utilization in our training centers ramp up," Parent told analysts. "I expect that to materialize over the next few quarters as the recovery takes hold.”

Montreal-based CAE sold only two or three full flight simulators to China in the last couple of years, compared with six to eight simulators a year before the pandemic, he said.

Shares of CAE rose 5% in afternoon trading after the Montreal-based company reported higher profit and earnings per share for the company's fiscal third quarter. (Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal Editing by Matthew Lewis)