Training
Qantas selects regional Queensland city for first flight academy
October 1st 2018
Qantas Airways’ first dedicated cockpit crew academy, which will train up to 250 pilots annually from Australia and overseas, will be built at Wellcamp Airport in Toowoomba, 125 kilometres west of Brisbane, Australia. Read More » The training centre will be developed at Australia’s only privately-owned international airport, thanks to three times a week cargo flights from Hong Kong operated by Cathay Pacific Airways.
As well as the winner, Alice Springs, Bendigo, Busselton, Dubbo, Launceston, Mackay, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga made the shortlist for the training centre in a competition that attracted more than a score of bids for a facility that will provide a big economic boost for the rural city.
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The remaining short list contenders are in the running for a second Qantas Group pilot academy. Qantas Group CEO, Alan Joyce, said that decision will be announced later this year.
Joyce said the airport, state and local government and the community had convinced Qantas that Toowoomba would be a great home for its first dedicated crew training centre.
“Qantas has a well-earned reputation for having some of the world’s pilots. For many of them, the journey will start in Toowoomba. Toowoomba will be an amazing place to learn to fly. It’s home to Australia’s newest airport, offers more than 300 days of Queensland sunshine every year and is an environment that is textbook for pilot training,” he said.
“The region itself is a great place to live, work and study. We’ve already had many students express their interest in moving to Toowoomba for pilot training.”
In partnership with the Queensland Government and owners of the airport, the Wagner Corporation, investors are building state-of-the-art training facilities and student accommodation.
“What we’re ultimately creating is a world-class pilot school for students from Australia and around the globe,” said Joyce. Investment in the new infrastructure is estimated at A$35 million, with the majority of the funding contributed by private sector partners.
The academy is planned to expand to 500 graduate pilots a year at Toowoomba and the second academy, including training crews for third party airlines and the general aviation sector.
Qantas has appointed world-leading L3 Commercial Aviation as the training provider for the Toowoomba academy. L3 has pilot training centres in the UK, Portugal, New Zealand and the U.S., with Toowoomba to become its first centre in Australia. More than 18,000 people have registered interest in training as pilots with Qantas.
