Qantas shifts pilot training to Brisbane

Qantas will build a new flight training centre for its pilots in Brisbane with the financial help of Queensland taxpayers.

The Qantas Flight Training Centre in Sydney is being demolished to make way for a main road. Picture: Supplied

Qantas has struck a deal with the Queensland Government to build a new flight training centre in Brisbane, while the Sydney base is relocated from its current site at Mascot.

The airline will also expand its Melbourne facility to accommodate more flight simulators to ensure there is no disruption to training programs.

The changes are necessary due to the Sydney flight training centre being dismantled to make way for a new road.

A replacement facility is not expected to be ready until 2023 with talks continuing between Qantas and the New South Wales Government.

The Queensland Government would not reveal the size of its “support” for the Brisbane centre but it was not believed to be in the same ballpark as the $200m given to Virgin Australia to maintain its headquarters in the city.

The Brisbane centre will accommodate Boeing 787, 737, Q400 and 767 freight simulators, providing training for as many as 900 international and domestic pilots a year.

Melbourne’s facility will offer training on 787, A330 and Q300 flight simulators.

Qantas is yet to decide on a new home for its A380 simulator adding to speculation about the future of the airline’s fleet of mothballed superjumbos.

Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick said the new flight training centre in Brisbane would “put more of the Q (for Queensland) back into Qantas while supporting more construction and operational jobs”.

“Establishing this facility brings extra aviation training capability to Queensland and creates new highly-skilled employment opportunities for training pilots and simulator technicians to work at the facility,” Mr Dick said.

“Support from our Advance Queensland Industry Attraction Fund was vital in securing the facility to be built in the Brisbane Airport precinct which will support an estimated 47 construction jobs and at least 18 direct new jobs.”

Qantas Group executive John Gissing said having flight training centres in all three eastern states would help reduce costs by millions of dollars a year, because it meant most pilots could train in their home base.

“We’d like to thank the state governments for their support and unlocking the broader economic benefits that these training centres have,” Mr Gissing said.

Talks were continuing with the various states around Qantas’s future headquarters with the airline seeking the best possible property deal.

The airline has already subleased surplus office space at its Mascot headquarters, as it considers a possible relocation to Melbourne, where Jetstar is based.