CAE Inc. beat its own annual forecast for sales of full-flight simulators Tuesday as the purchase of two more by an Asian airline raised its total to 29 for the fiscal year.

The Montreal-based manufacturer said the simulators will be used to expand a training centre it has jointly owned since 2002 with China Southern Airlines in Zhuhai.

One of the units is for a Boeing 737NG.

The other will train pilots on a Sikorsky S-76C helicopter, marking the company's first helicopter simulator sale in Asia and 11th globally featuring civil helicopter training.

CAE (TSX:CAE) also signed a multi-year agreement with Virgin America to develop and support a new pilot training centre near the airline's home base in San Francisco. It will be CAE's 33rd training centre.

The Canadian company will install an existing CAE-owned Airbus A320 simulator, which will be updated to the latest Airbus configuration.

The total value of the Asian and North American contracts was $45 million.

CAE had forecast that simulator sales for the fiscal year ending March 31 would be in the mid-20s.

Cameron Doerksen of National Bank Financial said he thought CAE would surpass that target, but the final tally exceeded even his expectations.

"The rebound in full-flight simulator orders (up from 20 last fiscal year) should continue into next year as orders and new deliveries of aircraft continue to strengthen," he wrote in a report.

Doerksen expects CAE will generate 35 to 40 new orders annually in the next peak of the aerospace cycle.

Jeff Roberts, CAE president of civil simulation products, said the Chinese airline's training centre expansion strengthens CAE's position in Asia.

China Southern president Tan Wan'geng said it was important for the airline to expand its training capacity to meet the growing demand for pilot training and airline travel.

"Our partnership with CAE has been very successful and the quality of the pilot training has met all expectations," he stated.

The simulators and other training devices included in the Zhuhai expansion will be available for training in 2012. More than 12,000 pilots train annually at the Zhuhai Flight Training Centre, which will have 17 simulators.

China is a key growth market for CAE and Doerksen said he expects the company will seek to expand its training capacity beyond the joint venture with China Southern.

The Virgin America simulator will be ready for training later this year. The airline will also have access to additional A320 simulators at other CAE training centres in North America and the Airbus Training Centre in Miami.

Its San Francisco simulator will also be available for use by other operators of the aircraft.

"They designed a training solution that addresses our unique requirements as a new and growing airline," said Bob Weatherly, Virgin America's senior vice-president of operations.

The low-cost carrier, which launched in 2007, plans to triple its fleet size by 2019 with a firm order for 60 new Airbus A320 aircraft.

CAE is the world's largest aircraft simulator manufacturer. It also provides training to the civil aviation industry and defence forces around the world.

With annual revenues exceeding $1.5 billion, CAE employs more than 7,500 people at more than 100 sites and training locations in more than 20 countries.

On the Toronto Stock Exchange, its shares closed down three cents at $12.29 Tuesday.

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