Advance Cairns calls for $63 million investment in Far North general aviation sector
An Australian-first Cessna training simulator could be based at the Cairns Airport, making it the first specialised simulator outside the United States, if Advance Cairns can secure the funding.
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An Australian-first Cessna training simulator could be based at the Cairns Airport, making it the first specialised simulator outside the United States, if Advance Cairns can secure the funding.
Advance Cairns chief executive officer Jacinta Reddan has called on the state government to consider Advance Cairns’ “general aviation priority”, forming a broader 2024-25 budget submission.
“We’re now calling on the state government to make significant investments into unlocking the potential of the general aviation sector in three key areas,” Ms Reddan said.
As well as housing the proposed $8m Cessna pilot simulator, Ms Reddan said Advance Cairns was also calling for funding for a $45m common user hangar to be used by smaller airlines for maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft and $10m of funding towards student accommodation at Cairns Airport.
“This simulator would be the only such pilot training simulator for the Cessna Caravan outside the US, therefore the first in Australia and could mean Cairns becomes a national training hub for this aircraft,” she said.
“(It) is the workhorse of the region, and flies from Cairns right across Arnhem Land to Papua New Guinea, across Torres Strait and it’s used around the world. This is going to be pivotal in the expansion of general aviation.”
Mission Aviation Fellowship chief operations officer Norman Baker, who overseas a fleet of 30 Cessna Caravans operating out of Australia, said the development of a pilot simulator would mean more aircraft would be available for operation rather than training.
“One of the things we’re excited about the simulator is that it’s not just a simulator for fun’s sake. It actually is going to remove about two-thirds of the training that we have to do in the aircraft,” Mr Baker said.
“What this means is that we’re no longer burning fuel, and more importantly taking the aircraft out of service or limiting our capacity to deliver services.”
Cairns Airport chief executive officer Richard Barker said the proposed developments would help to increase capacity in an already thriving sector.
“During the dark days of Covid when the passenger transport essentially stopped, our aircraft maintenance business was actually thriving,” Mr Barker said.
“We had really busy teams here at the airport doing essential aircraft maintenance and it also really reinforced how important it was to have aircraft maintenance done here in Australia.”
Mr Barker said prior to Covid, most aircraft maintenance had been outsourced overseas.
“We discovered how important it was to have this work done in Australia and developing those skills. What we found is that there are ample opportunities for our existing operators to grow.”
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