Loft Dynamics Delivers Another VR Simulator to Italy, Partnering with Sky Aviation to Revolutionize Its Pilot Training

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (July 18, 2024) — Loft Dynamics, the global leader in qualified virtual reality (VR) flight simulation training devices, today announced that Sky Aviation, a leading Italian helicopter services company providing passenger and material transport across the Alps, will install the company’s Airbus VR H125 flight training device at its base in Cossato, Italy. The partnership aims to enhance the quality, safety, accessibility, sustainability, and cost efficiencies of Sky Aviation's pilot training. Sky Aviation is the second organization in Italy adopting Loft Dynamics’ VR training devices to transform operations.

Sky Aviation operates in the northwestern Alps of Italy, where terrain can be challenging, weather inclement, and access limited. Sky Aviation’s skilled helicopter pilots are essential for safely transporting people and goods, whether providing emergency services on the ski slopes or supplying the region with construction materials. The installation of the VR simulator will bring EASA-approved, highly immersive, realistic, and tailored training to these pilots, exposing them regularly and safely to specific real-world scenarios they may encounter.

Sky Aviation will utilize the new Loft Dynamics VR simulator to maintain and enhance pilot proficiencies while eliminating risks inherent in training in an actual aircraft, drastically reducing operational costs, and minimizing environmental impact. Its VR HESLO simulation, the first to receive regulatory approval, will be particularly valuable given the volume of barycentric hook operations performed by Sky Aviation. Importantly, its students can now use the simulator to complete Type Ratings and accumulate required flight hours on site without aircraft availability and travel constraints.

“Our pilots regularly navigate challenging alpine conditions, and with Loft Dynamics simulators, we can replicate these scenarios safely and regularly—and do so in a way that reduces our environmental impact,” said Cesare Sappino, CEO of Sky Aviation. “Their simulators are not only incredibly realistic, but they also offer the best cost-benefit ratio. It’s a direct investment in our pilots with profound returns for everyone: pilots advance in their careers more efficiently and effectively, and we get the highest quality pilots without the cost or downtime of offsite training and checking. We’re also able to maximize our return on investment by offering our simulator to third parties for training and checking, which helps remove existing accessibility barriers in the region.”

"We're thrilled to partner with Sky Aviation, a highly respected operator in the industry," said Fabi Riesen, founder and CEO of Loft Dynamics. "Like many of our existing customers, Sky Aviation’s pilots operate in unforgiving conditions and manage complex maneuvers, requiring routine scenario-based training. Access to this type of high-quality, frequent training has historically been far too costly and inconvenient. It needed to change. Thanks to VR, organizations like Sky Aviation can benefit from the enduring value of housing and operating the most realistic and safe training simulator on site. Their pilots can use our VR H125 sim to regularly build and strengthen the neural pathways and muscle memory required to comfortably navigate any encounter without getting into a helicopter or traveling internationally.”

Sky Aviation was born from the merger of Airstar Aviation and GMH Helicopter Services, well-known certified helicopter companies with many years of experience. Sky Aviation is active in transporting passengers and material with external sling loads in the North-West Alps. In these mountainous areas, the use of helicopters is essential for transportation to areas difficult to access by other means and is of fundamental support for the construction of public and private building, for the hydrogeological surveillance of the territory, for the supply of alpine shelters as well as for operations of Civil Protection. The desire to create a larger, more flexible and coordinated commercial reality, able to offer a highly widespread service on the territory and the belief that a single, more structured organization can respond better to current market needs led to the creation of Sky Aviation, whose main objective is to provide increasingly professional and specialized helicopter services. The staff employed in flight missions (pilots, technicians / maintenance personnel, ground personnel) has a very high and proven operational experience on the highest mountains in the Europe, considered one of the most complex and competitive scenarios of the sector.

Loft Dynamics AG is the global leader in qualified virtual reality flight training devices. Equipped with a 3D high-resolution panoramic view, dynamic six-degrees-of-freedom motion platform, and full-scale replica cockpit with a unique pose tracking system, our revolutionary VR simulators provide an immersive, realistic, customizable, and risk-free training experience. By offering a training solution 10 times smaller and significantly more cost-effective than legacy simulators, we enhance training accessibility and scalability, empowering highly skilled pilots to meet global demand. As the world's first and only qualified VR flight simulation training device (FSTD), achieving FTD Level 3 qualification from EASA, we serve leading manufacturers, airlines, operators, schools, and organizations worldwide. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, and Santa Monica, California, our team comprises passionate engineers, developers, and aviation experts.

press@loftdynamics.com