Australian Flight School Set to Accept International Pilot Students

Bankstown, Australia, June 15, 2008 --(PR.com)-- With the current strong growth in the aviation industry expected to continue for several years, the shortage of professional pilots is already seriously straining the capacity of airlines to crew their flights.

To take advantage of this situation and help fill the pilot shortage, an Australian flying school, Pacific Flight Training, is rumored to be gearing up to accept full-time international students.

Pacific Flight Training is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Asian corporate giant, Singapore Technologies Aerospace.

Asked about the rumor, Pacific Flight Services’ Sydney Manager, Captain Rod Crane, said, 'Well, learning in Australia certainly makes sense, especially in this climate of growth. We know that Australia, by every measure, is the best place in the world to learn to fly. The weather is better and more predictable than both the United States and Europe. The prices are lower, the skies are far less congested, the aviation environment is as sophisticated as any other top-level nation, and our training standards are at least the equal of anywhere in the world.'

But does Capt. Crane plan to open Pacific Flight Services to international students?

"I can’t confirm anything at this stage. What I can say is that we have investigated our potential market, especially in Asia and the Sub-continent and have commissioned viability studies. There are a lot of hurdles you have to jump to satisfy the government agencies that you have the infrastructure to train and manage professional pilots at international level. You can imagine there is quite a bit of thorough and meticulous work involved in that. Added to that, we need to be confident ourselves that we could handle the large number of applicants the studies show we should expect to receive. I can’t deny that at this stage the idea is very attractive to us, but that’s all I can tell you right now. You'll just have to keep your eye on our website at pacificflight.com.au, I guess!"

However, well-placed industry insiders say the Sydney campus of Pacific Flight Services may be preparing to accept international enrolments as early as July this year.

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