Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Grounded: 'Plan B' needed for NZICPA students due in Whanganui

Laurel Stowell
By Laurel Stowell
Reporter·Whanganui Chronicle·
22 Apr, 2021 05:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

The New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy is awaiting about 80 students from India. Photo / File

The New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy is awaiting about 80 students from India. Photo / File

The wait continues for 80 prospective pilot students who are due in Whanganui for flight training but are unable to travel from India due to Covid-19.

The cadets are from Indian airline IndiGo and are enrolled at the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy (NZICPA), which is now looking for a "Plan B".

They have largely finished the online training delivered to them by the Whanganui District Council-owned academy, board chairman David Rae said, and now need to do their hours in the air.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand government has suspended travel to and from India, because Covid is so rife there.

The travel ban started on April 11. It is expected to end on April 28 but could be extended.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Rae is hoping to find a "Plan B" that will get the IndiGo cadets into New Zealand.

"We and the whole industry are still in discussions with the Government about trying to find exemptions to allow foreign students into the country on a controlled basis."

Students could be allowed in for 12-18 months in a controlled way with minimal risk, he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
David Rae is the chairman of the board that runs the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy in Whanganui. Photo / supplied
David Rae is the chairman of the board that runs the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy in Whanganui. Photo / supplied

Whanganui MP Steph Lewis said she had been championing the cause of getting the students to Whanganui but there was a process to go through, she said, and it would be unfair and breed uncertainty if individual schools could get exemptions.

"If you want an exemption you have to come as an industry. That's what was done for post-graduate students and for RSE workers."

Discover more

Flight students staying safe at Collegiate Motor Inn

24 Apr 12:30 AM

New faces for Whanganui Holdings, new subsidiary boards

22 Dec 04:00 PM

Flight school redundancies 'needed', more possible

22 Dec 04:00 PM

'Tragedy' if Covid-19 kills Whanganui flight school

27 Jan 04:00 PM

Lewis has been talking to Rachel Boyack, the MP for Nelson, where there is another flight school, and to the chief executive of Aviation New Zealand, John Nicholson.

"We are working on putting together an industry-wide exemption. It's a very complex issue because it's across a number of responsibilities - immigration, education, transport," she said.

Nothing has officially been put before the ministers yet, and it's too early to say what the outcome will be.

The Chronicle has also put questions about the flight students to Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi.

The academy's 81 current students will finish their studies progressively during June and July, Rae said.

In December last year it made three people redundant, due to falling numbers of students.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We are still looking at what we need to do at the flight school and we are in discussions with [Whanganui District Council] Holdings and council about what the future is going to look like."

He was reluctant to say when hard decisions would have to be made.

"I would rather not give a specific date, partly because that can be quite unsettling for staff. We need to keep people motivated," he said.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

'Please do not do it': Man inflicted intense pain on woman during violation

04 Jul 08:00 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

'Evocative tribute': Exhibition explores Whanganui's spiritual heritage

04 Jul 03:00 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Central North Island feels impact of heavy rain

04 Jul 02:44 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

'Please do not do it': Man inflicted intense pain on woman during violation

'Please do not do it': Man inflicted intense pain on woman during violation

04 Jul 08:00 AM

Judge Tompkins said Michael Mead, 64, posed a 'very high risk' in the future.

'Evocative tribute': Exhibition explores Whanganui's spiritual heritage

'Evocative tribute': Exhibition explores Whanganui's spiritual heritage

04 Jul 03:00 AM
Central North Island feels impact of heavy rain

Central North Island feels impact of heavy rain

04 Jul 02:44 AM
Premium
Tradie's remarkable revival of long-lost NZ clothing brand from his backyard shed

Tradie's remarkable revival of long-lost NZ clothing brand from his backyard shed

03 Jul 10:43 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP