Hamilton gets tailwind from flight training

Cadet pilot Hayden Earle at the new centre which will train up to 120 pilots a year. Picture / Amos Chapple

Hamilton's aviation sector is about to fly even higher, with the opening of a new $4 million pilot training centre.

The facility will open amid high hopes that it will give a $90 million boost to the region's economy over the next 10 years.

UK firm CTC Aviation picked the site in Hamilton over contenders in Australia, Canada and South Africa, with the help of a $4.2 million loan from Hamilton ratepayers.

Another factor was Hamilton's fog and rain - which provides good training conditions for new pilots. The Waikato location was also close to mountainous terrain, lakes and different types of runways, factors which provide challenges for the trainees.

British Airways, Easyjet and KLM are among some of the world's bigger airlines that use CTC to help train their pilots.

The new centre, which will formally be opened tomorrow, is part of an aviation industry "cluster" around Hamilton airport that includes aircraft manufacturers Pacific Aerospace and Alpha Aviation.

Centre chief executive Chris Clarke said there were signs that the number of applicants for pilot training around the world was falling, but Britain alone needed around 250 new pilots a year to accommodate industry growth and to replace those retiring. The whole European Community needed around 5000 new pilots a year.

Clarke said the training, known as "CTC Wings" took people with no flying experience and qualified them to be in the cockpit of a commercial airliner in less than two years.

Those training would live and train in the Waikato for nine months, before heading back to the UK for another six months of training with their sponsor airline.

All cadets would initially be from the UK, but CTC intended to open up its programme to New Zealand cadets. Trainees live in student accommodation in Hamilton during their courses.

Company chief operating officer Rod Wren said he was expecting the centre to contribute around $90 million to the local economy over the next 10 years.

Hamilton City Council's representative on its local economic development body, Ewan Wilson, said the new centre was an important part of an increasingly important aviation business.

"The city owns half the airport. We've invested a lot of money getting it to international status - we're about to expand the airport terminal too.

"With Alpha Aviation and Pacific Aerospace here Hamilton is clearly now the largest manufacturer of light aircraft in Australasia.

"We're really becoming a legitimate destination and experts in aviation."

He said CTC had chosen Hamilton for many reasons, the major ones being the cost and congestion-free skies. It also provided a safe and stable environment for study.