Nope, not in SA.
REX AND MANGALORE AIRPORT ANNOUNCE CREATION OF
PILOT ACADEMY
Regional Express (Rex) and Mangalore Airport Pty Limited (MAPL) announced today that they have
signed an MOU for a Joint Venture to create a new Professional Pilot Academy to be named the
Civil Aviation Training Academy (CATA). This Academy will be situated at Mangalore Airport,
Victoria, one and a half hours from Melbourne CBD, and is expected to receive its first batch of 20
students on 10 December 2007.
Giving details of the training, Jim Davis, Rex Chief of Staff, said “Under our intensive live-in training
program, we expect the students to graduate with a Commercial Pilot Licence, a Multi Engine Rating
and a Command Instrument Rating within 32 weeks. CATA has purchased an initial batch of 5 new
Piper Warrior III aircraft with state of the art “glass” cockpits for the first training course, as well as a
new twin-engine Piper Seminole for multi-engine and Instrument training. The Academy intends to
accept up to 80 pilots in the first year but has plans to grow the intake to 350 a year by the third or
fourth year of operations. We intend to be the premier institute for training professional pilots in
Australia.”
“The first few intakes of students will be reserved for the cadets recruited under the Rex Pilot Cadet
scheme announced earlier, after which the Academy will accept private students as well as those
sent from other airlines both locally and internationally. The total cost of training, including full board
and lodging, is expected to be priced at around $80,000 per student.”
“We are currently in the process of reviewing approximately 700 applicants Rex has received so far
and we will select an initial 20 for our inaugural cadet course. This will be followed 3 months later by
our second batch of 20 cadets. Upon successful completion of the training, the cadets will go
through 2 months of ground school and simulator training with Rex before taking up the appointment
of First Officer flying in the right hand seat for our company.”
“This initiative will enable Rex to have a guaranteed supply of highly trained pilots entering its ranks,
helping to ensure sufficient pilot numbers for both current needs and future growth.” Rex Chief of
Staff, Jim Davis, said today.
Captain Keith Wallace, General Manager of Mangalore Airport, commenting on the joint venture,
stated that “MAPL has almost completed the second stage of the brand new Academy, which
includes air-conditioned accommodation, a commercial kitchen with dining room, a purpose built
learning centre, with classrooms, briefing rooms, dispatch centre and CATA offices. Mangalore is a
large, well equipped airport, with dual all-weather runways, and published Instrument Approach
Procedures including NDB, VOR and RNAV (GNSS).”
“The owners have invested heavily in upgrades to the airport, such as a Fibre-optic LAN to connect
all the students, learning centre and administration. Runway 18/36 has been recently resurfaced. An
examination centre has been created for Assessment Services Pty Ltd to enable students to sit for
CASA theory examinations at Mangalore Airport”
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“Captain Wallace stated that the investment to date in buildings, runway works, and infrastructure
has been achieved without financial assistance from any sources, and the project is being shaped as
the focal point of an Aviation Cluster, with the central role of providing an internationally competitive
training solution for the airline industry. In doing so, other aviation related industries and activities will
be introduced to the Goulburn Valley Region of Central Victoria, and beyond”
“The third equity partner in the joint venture, Moorabbin Flying Services (MFS), was chosen to
provide the most effective, high quality training solution to the airline industry, at a time when well
qualified pilots are being sought by all levels in the industry.
Giving details of the shareholdings and working capital, the partners revealed: “MFS will hold 15% of
the shares, with REX and MAPL splitting equally the remaining shares. CATA will start with initial
working capital of A$2 million, but we expect this to increase to A$6 million within the first 18
months”
Rex is Australia’s largest independent Regional Airline, operating a fleet of 34 SAAB 340 aircraft on
1,300 flights weekly to 25 destinations from Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. The Rex group
comprises Regional Express, air freight and charter operator Pel-Air Aviation, and Dubbo based
regional airline Air Link.