Turnover up 26% at aviation company
A Perth-based aviation company says it is on track to record a 26 per cent increase in turnover this year.
ACS Aviation, based at Perth Airport, says there has been a growing demand from Europe’s leading airlines for pilots to be trained, with the company training 115 in the past year.
It is now investing over £2 million in state-of-the-art flight simulators and a twin-engine training aircraft, bringing the company’s fleet to over 20 and making it the largest training academy in the country.
The recent expansion of the business has also resulted in a threefold increase in the ACS Aviation workforce from 13 to 40 over the past four years.
And it is expecting an uplift in turnover from £1.9m to £2.4m for the year ending March 31.
Complementing the flight training academy, the company also operates ACS Engineering, an aircraft maintenance service provider specialising in aircraft and helicopter maintenance and engineering support.
Graeme Frater, CEO of ACS Aviation, said: “Europe accounts for 34 per cent of global air traffic and according to Boeing projections, this will grow by 113 per cent by 2037, meaning the demand for pilots is only set to increase.
“With that in mind we have focused on increasing our flight training capabilities over the past year and thanks to our industry leading fleet and training concepts, this has resulted in a 40 per cent uplift in the number of pilots trained.
“Since we launched our flight training academy in 2007 we have successfully developed relationships with a number of European airlines including easyjet, Loganair, Jet2.com, Eastern Airways and Stobart Air, and we aim to grow this portfolio over the next 12 months.
“Moving forward we are not only looking to grow our engineering and flight training services at Perth Airport, but we are also in talks with several other airports about expanding our aviation operations across the UK.”
To help with this expansion, ACS Aviation is working with Scottish Enterprise on several projects, including aircraft engineering modern apprenticeships and graduate opportunities.
And to help train the number of pilots needed, the business has also introduced some flight instructor sponsorships and flying scholarships.
On Saturday, February 29 it is hosting Scotland’s pilot careers and flight training seminar in Glasgow.
Graeme added: “The demand for pilots is growing rapidly worldwide and airlines are increasingly looking for new staff for their cockpits.
“We know that there are many budding pilots out there who are perhaps unsure how to pursue a career in aviation, so we thought the best way would be to bring everyone involved in the industry together at one event.
“Our previous two flight training seminars have been extremely popular and I am sure the 2020 event will be just as successful.”