Student numbers at the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy in Whanganui are the highest they have ever been. Photo / Bevan Conley
Student numbers at the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy in Whanganui are the highest they have ever been. Photo / Bevan Conley
Eighty Indian pilot students have been unable to come to Whanganui this year - and the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy is making arrangements for them to study online.
At the same time the school is the busiest it has ever been, chief executive Phillip Bedford said, and willstay that way until May next year. By that time international students may be able to come to New Zealand.
It has joined New Zealand's other 11 pilot training schools and Aviation New Zealand to make a case to government to let international pilot students into the country. Each student is special to the academy, Bedford said, but in dollar terms they are worth six times as much as a university student to the New Zealand economy.
"Therefore there's quite a strong case to central government that pilot students could be a priority."
In the meantime the academy will have to carry on as it is until it knows whether international students are allowed back into the country.
Its student numbers will not thin out until May next year, and there will still be New Zealand enrolments. During Covid its biggest new customer, IndiGo, has grown its market share and ordered new planes.
"Hopefully they will come out of Covid stronger than they went in, with a modern and more efficient fleet."
The academy has 94 students at present. There are 24 from Indian airline IndiGo and 20 New Zealand diploma students, with the rest from about eight other countries. There are 30 staff to teach them, 19 planes where they can get hands-on experience and three academy vehicles to ferry crews around.
The students occupy 75 per cent of the rooms bought for their accommodation, Bedford said. They are at the former Collegiate Motor Inn bought by Whanganui District Council Holdings Ltd this year and at the former Nazareth Rest Home it bought in March 2019.
The simulation side of their study takes place in classrooms at the former St George's School, bought by Holdings and Ngā Tāngata Tiaki's Te Ngakinga o Whanganui investment trust in August 2019.
The academy had intended to move in a measured way toward a total of 200 students, Bedford said. The 80 to be trained for IndiGo were to have arrived earlier this year, some in mid-June and some in mid-September.
They are still in India studying Indian theory until the academy has New Zealand Qualifications Authority approval to offer theory programmes remotely. Bedford expects that approval in a week or so.
The academy had also hoped to get equipment that will enable training at a more advanced level. That is on hold, but it is maintaining contact with the manufacturer.
The New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy chief executive is Phillip Bedford. Photo / Bevan Conley
In the even longer term, Bedford believes air travel is here to stay despite its major contribution to climate change.
"They are developing electric and hydrogen-powered planes, and our training will work for that."
