Massey School of Aviation chief executive Ashok Poduval and Palmerston North Airport Limited chief executive David Lanham visit the building site for the new facility.
Palmerston North Airport Limited has started construction of a state-of-the-art training facility for Massey University’s School of Aviation. It will bring all the school’s students and staff members together in one location for the first time.
The airport is investing $5 million for the 2200 square-metre facility located in the Ruapehu Business Park, a 20-hectare development for aviation maintenance and training, commercial, logistics, retail and light industrial development.
Massey’s School of Aviation has been operating from its current Milson Flight Systems Centre at Palmerston North Airport since 1994. The school is New Zealand’s leading aviation education and flight training provider, with a fleet of technically-enhanced Diamond DA40 and DA42 aircraft and ground-based training facilities.
School of Aviation chief executive Ashok Poduval says the new training facility will pave the way for growth in student numbers.
“It presents a much more attractive proposition for overseas flight training contracts,” he says. “More importantly, it will improve synergy and efficiency by bringing the entire school onto one location for the first time."
The school’s new facility will be constructed in two stages. Stage 1, due for completion in June 2018, will accommodate the existing airport-based students, staff and aircraft maintenance activities. Stage 2, due for completion in June 2019, will accommodate the aviation faculty and administrative staff currently based on the University's Turitea site.
Palmerston North Airport chief executive David Lanham says the development will build on the reputation the School of Aviation already has for delivering world-class aviation training programmes.
“The new facility will assist the school to further promote its capabilities to an international audience at a time when the demand for pilot and aviation management training is continuing to grow,” he says. “It will also be an exciting addition to Ruapehu Business Park and it is expected to act as a catalyst for other adjacent developments.”