Sandgropers are in on it... YCUN??!!
The West, 12 May 2018
WA Push To Land Qantas Pilot School
By Geoffrey Thomas, Aviation Editor
The State Government will set up a task force to try to lure the proposed Qantas Group Pilot Academy to WA. Qantas has issued a formal request for proposals from States and airports for the location of its new pilot training school, which the airline plans to open next year with an initial intake of 100 trainees. Eventually it plans to train 500 pilots a year for its own operations and those of other airlines.
Competition for the academy is expected to be intense from around the nation. But the WA Government believes that the State’s weather and more open airspace will be big advantages. Qantas requires 300 days of “flying weather” a year, the airline’s proposal says. It also requires an asphalt runway and taxiways with minimum runway length of 1300m, capability of full lighting for night and reduced-visibility operations and fuel tanker refuelling. Also on the list are hangars and covered facilities to accommodate maintenance and parking space for up to 30 planes, with the ability to expand to more than 50 planes. The Government’s task force will bring together tourism, transport and regional development to formalise WA’s comparative advantages for the facility. The task force will consider potential locations around the State as part of its investigation, including Busselton-Margaret River, Jandakot, Geraldton, Cunderdin and Albany.
The Government said that it would also continue to work closely with China Southern to support the existing China Southern WA Flying College in Merredin, as well as Singapore Airlines’ training operation at Jandakot.