NZ chosen for air traffic control school
Alan Siddoway says there is a huge global demand for controllers. A British air traffic control training company plans to set up an academy in Wellington to attract foreign students.
Global Aviation Training Services chief executive Alan Siddoway said the school would open in June and would tap into the global demand for thousands of air traffic controllers.
The academy would be based at the Wellington School of Business and Government, where three 3-D control tower simulators would be built, he said.
Global-ats has two training centres in Britain and another in Spain, training up to 400 controllers a year.
The company’s chairman is Wellington businessman Murray Cole, who previously owned Parapara- umu Airport and set up commuter airline air2there.
Global-ats will compete against state-owned air traffic control provider and trainer Airways New Zealand for foreign students.
Airways has training centres in Christchurch and Palmerston North.
The Global-ats academy will be open to New Zealand trainees, but because Airways has the monopoly on training for its own control towers, Global-ats students will need to look for work overseas.
Siddoway said Airways’ training arm should be opened to competition, as it was in Britain.
The academy would train up to 10 students in its first year.
Globally, there was demand for up to 6000 additional air traffic controllers, Siddoway said.
‘‘The demand is driven by the tremendous growth in the Middle East, and particularly the United Arab Emirates, where the major new airport developments are being contemplated.’’
The academy would also provide courses in aviation management for up to another 70 students a year.
Wellington was chosen ahead of an Australian centre because the Kiwi accent was ‘‘a lot less harsh than the Aussie twang’’, he said.
The central city location and a good mix of accommodation options for students were also in Wellington’s favour, Siddoway said.
The poor standard of English spoken by controllers and pilots in some parts of the world was a significant concern for the industry, he said.
The Wellington training centre would provide Middle Eastern and Asian students with a total immersion English environment.
A critical factor for an air traffic controller was the need to be a fluent speaker and thinker of ‘‘aviation English’’, which was the global standard.