WA REGIONS are being promoted as training facilities for international airline pilots.
Commerce and Trade Minister Hendy Cowan told the launch of the World Airport Transport Training Conference and Tradeshow in Denver that WA had ideal airline pilot training conditions.
He said crowded skies in many other parts of the world made WA attractive as a training ground.
“When you are six times the size of California but have only five per cent of the population, there can be few, if any, places in the world with as much spare sky,” Mr Cowan said.
“It has been estimated the Asia-Pacific region will require as many as 2,000 additional pilots per year over the next 15 years, so there is certainly good scope for some of them to be trained in WA.”
The advantages have already been realised by China Southern Airlines and Singapore Airlines, which train some pilots in WA. An independent study into opportunities for the industry indicated considerable interest in the regions for pilot training opportunities.