About 40 students are expected to enrol in a new practical flight training degree announced this morning at Cairns Airport.

CQUniversity has joined forces with locally owned Hinterland Aviation that will see the local airline provide practical flight training and jobs for the student pilots.

The new degree is expected to attract mainly local Cairns students, though some enrolments are forecast from around Australia. The flight training forms part of the university’s plans to establish a $16 million Aviation Centre of Excellence in the Tropical North, making Cairns an aviation hub for the Asia-Pacific region.<strike></strike>

“Hinterland Aviation is a small airline that services the Far North Queensland region and this agreement will give our Bachelor of Aviation (Flight Operations) and Graduate Diploma of Aviation (Flight Operations) students in Cairns a fabulous opportunity to not only fly, but work with an already established airline,” CQUniversity Vice-Chancellor Professor Scott Bowman said.

“It’s a win-win partnership as it is also likely to provide Hinterland a supply of pilots in a time of global pilot shortages,” he said.

LOCAL JOBS

Hinterland Aviation CEO Peter Christoudias said the partnership would take a ‘holistic approach’ in preparing students for a professional career in aviation and said he looked forward to working in synergy with CQUniversity and its students.

“Through this agreement, our airline will be able to employ students immediately upon completing their degrees, providing not only the graduate, but also our operation, with tremendous opportunities,” Mr Christoudias said.

“We are also 100 percent locally owned, so by employing these students we will be ensuring that money stays in North Queensland.”

Professor Bowman said the partnership was also another leap forward in CQUniversity’s $54.7 million Cairns Community Impact Plan designed to stimulate new industries in the North and generate maximum community impact.

“This partnership once again highlights our strong commitment to working and supporting the communities in which we operate," he said.