Bumper order for new flight-training school

Pearson Aviation’s International Flight Training Academy at ­Mildura has 45 new Cessna 172 Skyhawks on order.

A Cessna 172 Skyhawk. Picture: Chris Kidd

One of the largest aircraft orders in Australia’s recent general aviation history has been placed with Textron by Melbourne-based Pearson Aviation.

From June, the flight-training company will start taking delivery of 45 brand new Cessna 172 Skyhawks worth an estimated $20 million.

Owner Guy Pearson said the four-seat, single-engine aircraft would progressively arrive from Textron’s manufacturing plant in Independence, Kansas over the next six months, in 15 lots of three.

“They shove three fuselages and the detached wings into a 40-foot container and we reassemble them in Melbourne and fly them to Mildura,” Mr Pearson said.

“I’m not privy to other organisations’ orders but I am aware that Textron has sold out until next year.”

The appeal of the Cessnas was in their “ruggedness”, Mr Pearson said. “They have a proven design, and most of the faults if there were any have been ironed out over the years,” he said.

The Skyhawks will become the fleet for the new International Flight Training Academy at ­Mildura, run by Pearson Aviation in partnership with a Chinese ­airline.

Mr Pearson declined to name the airline, citing ongoing contractual negotiations, but said 30 Chinese students had started at the training school with 120 enrolments expected by the end of the year.

“There certainly is a massive shortage of pilots in Asia, and this presents a great opportunity for flight training schools in Australia,” he said.

“Any international pilot training here is going to add jobs to the Australian economy and the competition for experienced pilot instructors is quite intense, which is benefiting the instructor ­cohort.”

Despite the pilot shortage also starting to bite in Australia, Mr Pearson said government support for training schools remained ­almost “nil”.

“There traditionally has never been any support for general ­aviation,” he said.