Qantas’ new flight training centre in Sydney is one step closer to completion, with developer LOGOS Property Group beginning construction on the facility.
Expected to open in 2024, the St Peters facility will train up to 4,500 Qantas and Jetstar pilots and cabin crew each year. It will comprise eight full motion simulators, including an Airbus A350 simulator, which will carry passengers on non-stop flights from Sydney to London and New York. The centre will also feature flight training devices, aircraft cabin mock-ups with emergency procedures equipment, as well as training facilities.
After relocating their simulation operations to Melbourne and Brisbane, the new centre is a welcome return for Sydney-based pilots, who are required to undertake four simulator sessions per year to remain current in their formal qualifications and up to 15 sessions when training for a new aircraft type.
Spanning three floors, the centre will comprise approximately 7,000 sqm of commercial floorspace and will be built with approximately 150 tonnes of steel, 4,500 cubic metres of concrete and complex specialist infrastructure for flight simulators. Qantas anticipates 250 jobs will be created during construction, with 8,500 jobs in the Australian aviation sector predicted over the next decade.
“Qantas provides training for thousands of pilots and cabin crew each year and this purpose-built facility will ensure our high training standards continue as we introduce the next generation of aircraft, grow our network and create new high skilled jobs,” says Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce.
“We’ll receive an average of one new aircraft every three weeks for the next three years across the Qantas Group, and more simulator capacity to train new and current pilots is critical.
“Sydney will be the launch city for our non-stop flights to London and New York, and will soon be the home of pilot training for the A350s, which will operate these flights from late 2025.
“We’d like to thank the NSW Government and the LOGOS Group for its support for this world-class facility, which will generate broader economic benefits for the state.”
Global training provider CAE will manage the centre’s day-to-day operations, while Senior Qantas and Jetstar training captains will train pilots from the two airlines
“We’re thrilled to create this facility for CAE and Qantas as the first of its kind in Sydney, with custom-built, complex infrastructure specialised for flight simulators,” says LOGOS Head of Australia & New Zealand, Darren Searle.
“We have drawn on our multi-storey development experience from our portfolio in Asia to deliver this innovative, speciality build in Australia.
“The site provides the ideal location for Qantas’ new training centre, located on the doorstep of Sydney airport in a premium industrial precinct, and CAE’s 20-year commitment to the site highlights the unprecedented demand for key industrial sites, particularly in these strategic inner city locations with direct connectivity to Sydney’s major port and airport.”