Renowned school to take off in Wanganui

INVESTMENT: Wanganui Airport will soon be home to a pilot training school.

The Wanganui District Council has been cleared for take-off for a business investment it believes will boost the local economy and provide a revenue stream.

The council's commercial arm has bought a Feilding-based pilot training school for $800,000 which it will shift to a base at Wanganui Airport .

Matthew Doyle, chairman of Wanganui District Council Holdings, announced the deal yesterday.

"We have purchased a well-established school - Flight Training Manawatu - and in the next year or so we will relocate it from Feilding to Wanganui," he said.

The deal includes four planes, simulators, equipment and other assets.

The business has been bought from Michael Bryant, who is retiring after running it for 20 years, and has been acquired as a going concern.

Mr Doyle said other flight training opportunities had been considered in the past but they involved excessive commercial risk, whereas Flight Training Manawatu had full certification and already had a mix of New Zealand and international students, with particularly good links with India.

"We have undertaken a rigorous due diligence process and completed all the regulatory and education registration processes required," Mr Doyle said.

The training school will be renamed the Commercial Pilot Academy and remain at the Feilding Aerodrome until Wanganui facilities have been upgraded with the building of a hangar and classroom.

The Commercial Pilot Academy Board, comprising Mr Doyle, Harvey Green (a director of the Holdings company and Airport Management Board chairman) and Charlie Anderson (district councillor and chief executive of Air Wanganui), has been established to oversee the business.

The board is looking to appoint a chief executive.

Mayor Annette Main said the investment would reduce the cost of maintaining the airport.

"Wanganui District Council owns half the airport while the Crown owns the other half and the annual maintenance cost is $100,000."

It would also make greater use of an under-utilised facility.

"The flight academy will provide an opportunity to support the airport and its future viability, as well as addressing the debt that is currently being funded."

Ms Main said that the Crown was aware of the flight school purchase and was supportive of the move.

"It's exciting that our district will be home to students from throughout New Zealand and overseas while they are completing their pilot diplomas."