Par Avion steps up to the plate - 
Via the Oz:
Small airline Par Avion spreads its pilot training wings
![[Image: 3352d09358d3553d7d63e1df020f3ac0?width=650]](http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/3352d09358d3553d7d63e1df020f3ac0?width=650)
A Par Avion aircraft over Tasmania.
The Australian12:00AM January 23, 2018
![[Image: matthew_denholm.png]](http://media.theaustralian.com.au/authors/images/bio/matthew_denholm.png)
MATTHEW DENHOLM
Tasmania correspondent Hobart
@MatthewRDenholm
A small Tasmanian airline is to double its pilot training school and is urging reform to ensure Australia cashes in on the strong global demand for pilots.
As airlines complain of a regional pilot shortage, and overseas airlines poach Australian pilots, Par Avion Flight Training, at Cambridge Aerodrome, near Hobart, will this week unveil plans to train about 100 pilots a year.
The company will offer two diploma courses — a commercial pilot licence diploma and another on instrument rating, upskilling qualified pilots to fly at night and in poor weather.
Managing director Shannon Wells said the courses would be offered under the Vocational Education and Training Student Loans scheme, meaning graduating pilots would not pay the $90,000 to $100,000 cost until they starting earning.
“This … will provide jobs locally, allow student pilots to remain in Tasmania to train and it will help Australia address the national shortage of trained commercial pilots,” Mr Wells said. “We plan to expand our training classrooms and facilities at Cambridge, including the purchase of new aircraft, to meet the growing demand for places.”
Par Avion, which flies regional routes and charters in Tasmania, had been approved to provide pilot training to overseas students, and was in discussion with a Southeast Asian airline about training its pilots in Tasmania. “We are in advanced discussions with some international schools and airlines to help them meet increasing demand for training commercial pilots and flight instructors,” Mr Wells said.
It is understood Par Avion is close to a deal with a Malaysia-based airline. Combined with the VET courses, the developments are a rare win for Australian pilot schools. Some pilot schools in other states have been purchased by foreign interests.
Mr Wells said pilot training was complex, with providers having to meet the dual requirements of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and the Australian Skills Quality Authority. While each brought valuable contributions, he believed some “harmonisation” of requirements would help the industry expand.
There was huge scope for Australia to dramatically expand pilot training for domestic and overseas airlines. “There is nothing physically or logistically stopping us training more pilots up; it’s just the paper work. If that can be brought to order there’s no reason why every airport in the nation couldn’t set something up. There’s enough demand,” Mr Wells said.
Top stuff Shannon...
Also yesterday from the Oz:
MTF...P2
Via the Oz:
Small airline Par Avion spreads its pilot training wings
A Par Avion aircraft over Tasmania.
The Australian12:00AM January 23, 2018
MATTHEW DENHOLM
Tasmania correspondent Hobart
@MatthewRDenholm
A small Tasmanian airline is to double its pilot training school and is urging reform to ensure Australia cashes in on the strong global demand for pilots.
As airlines complain of a regional pilot shortage, and overseas airlines poach Australian pilots, Par Avion Flight Training, at Cambridge Aerodrome, near Hobart, will this week unveil plans to train about 100 pilots a year.
The company will offer two diploma courses — a commercial pilot licence diploma and another on instrument rating, upskilling qualified pilots to fly at night and in poor weather.
Managing director Shannon Wells said the courses would be offered under the Vocational Education and Training Student Loans scheme, meaning graduating pilots would not pay the $90,000 to $100,000 cost until they starting earning.
“This … will provide jobs locally, allow student pilots to remain in Tasmania to train and it will help Australia address the national shortage of trained commercial pilots,” Mr Wells said. “We plan to expand our training classrooms and facilities at Cambridge, including the purchase of new aircraft, to meet the growing demand for places.”
Par Avion, which flies regional routes and charters in Tasmania, had been approved to provide pilot training to overseas students, and was in discussion with a Southeast Asian airline about training its pilots in Tasmania. “We are in advanced discussions with some international schools and airlines to help them meet increasing demand for training commercial pilots and flight instructors,” Mr Wells said.
It is understood Par Avion is close to a deal with a Malaysia-based airline. Combined with the VET courses, the developments are a rare win for Australian pilot schools. Some pilot schools in other states have been purchased by foreign interests.
Mr Wells said pilot training was complex, with providers having to meet the dual requirements of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and the Australian Skills Quality Authority. While each brought valuable contributions, he believed some “harmonisation” of requirements would help the industry expand.
There was huge scope for Australia to dramatically expand pilot training for domestic and overseas airlines. “There is nothing physically or logistically stopping us training more pilots up; it’s just the paper work. If that can be brought to order there’s no reason why every airport in the nation couldn’t set something up. There’s enough demand,” Mr Wells said.
Top stuff Shannon...
Also yesterday from the Oz:
Quote:Love is in the air with China
12:00amGEOFF CHAMBERS, EMILY RITCHIE
The number of flights to and from China has soared, and Australian pilots are reaping the benefits.
The number of flights to and from China has soared to almost 2.7 million passenger movements a year, fuelling the poaching by Chinese airlines of experienced Australian pilots.
Passenger capacity has tripled in the past decade and risen again since China struck the first agreement of its kind in December 2016 to allow unlimited flights between Australia and China.
Trade Minister Steve Ciobo said China was poised to replace New Zealand as Australia’s top tourism market due to the deal.
Analysis by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade using Department of Immigration and Border Protection data shows the greatest rise has been in Chinese travellers to Australia.
The number of foreigners travelling on Australian airlines (Qantas) to and from China jumped from 123,800 to 445,000 between 2007 and 2016.
During the same period, the number of passengers flying on Chinese airlines jumped from 590,300 to 2.225 million (including 659,000 Australians).
“China has been gaining on New Zealand for more than a decade,” Mr Ciobo said. “Importantly, this growth is set to continue with China’s increased prosperity forecast to fuel another trebling of numbers over the next decade to 3.9 million by 2026-27.”
For Australian pilot Brett Austen, 51, the boom has had benefits.
Taking up a position with China’s Tianjin Airlines meant higher pay, faster career progression, flying larger aircraft, generous annual leave and the prospect of early retirement.
He has also fallen in love and married Chinese woman Rui Li, with whom he has a four-week-old daughter, Mikaela.
Tianjin Airlines has expanded from a fleet of small Embraer 190 and Fairchild Dornier aircraft when Mr Austen joined in 2010 to Airbus A320s and A330s with international routes to Japan, South Korea, Russia, Thailand and now London, Auckland, Melbourne and Sydney.
Captain Austen’s career has grown with the airline and he now commands the A330 on international routes. He was the first foreign pilot employed by the airline but there are now more than 100.
The Australian last month revealed Chinese airlines were poaching experienced Australian pilots by offering in some cases more than $750,000 a year, sparking concerns that pilot shortages in regional Australia could spread to major domestic routes.
While it would be difficult to return to Australia and step into the same role on the same aircraft, Captain Austen said China was attractive for pilots nearing the end of their careers.
“Once you go to China it is very difficult to come back. Airlines in Australia are based on seniority, so all the experience you have means nothing. You will start as first officer again with the major Australian airlines and maybe work back up to captain in eight to 10 years. For me, even though working in China was unplanned, it has given me great opportunities that were not possible in Australia,” he said.
Captain Austen moved to China in January 2010 after the collapse of his employer Sky Air World in Brisbane during the global financial crisis. His contract is a typical Chinese airline deal that allows for 110 holiday days a year and pays more than $US300,000 ($375,000) a year after tax.
“For money and vacation, these are one of the best contracts in the world today. This is the reason pilots are heading to China for work,” he said.
Mr Ciobo said the government’s “historic aviation agreement with China” had helped drive the record influx of Chinese visitors and the explosion in flights from China.
Mr Ciobo, who led a tourism delegation to China last year to explore opportunities arising from the agreement, said Chinese tourists had been the biggest spenders since 2011, racking up a record $10.3 billion in the year ending September 2017.
The DFAT trade report shows Australia’s total trade in goods and services has reached a record $735.5bn, headlined by a 16.8 per cent surge in exports to $373.2bn on the back of iron ore and coal.
MTF...P2