9 September 2008
Oxford Aviation Academy has acquired General Flying Services (GFS), which is Australia’s leading ab initio airline pilot training organisation. GFS operates out of two airports in Melbourne and last year trained 330 cadets. That figure is expected to rise to 500 annually as it becomes part of OAA.
The acquisition has been backed by STAR Capital Partners.
The acquisition strengthens Oxford’s position in the global training market, and is, according to OAA, “a key strategic addition to the Group’s ‘Aviation Training – ab initio’ division which also comprises the former Oxford Aviation Training, one of the worlds’ largest and most respected airline pilot training schools.”
It also means that the group has a larger presence in the high growth Australia and Asia Pacific region.
Brian Simpson, OAA Group Chief Executive Officer commented: “The acquisition of GFS brings to the Group a well established and highly respected pilot training school renowned for high quality pilot training in the Australia and Asia Pacific region. It is an excellent addition to our world famous school in Oxford and adds significant scale and geographical reach to our cadet training capabilities. Airlines and students from China, India, South East Asia and the Middle East are happy and comfortable with training in Australia, making GFS a great platform from which OAA can bring the highest standards of pilot training to those markets. We intend to utilise our existing capabilities in that region and combine them with GFS to offer fully integrated training and supply solutions to airlines.”
Oxford Aviation Academy is based at Gatwick, and was created last year through the $275m merger of GE Commercial Aviation Training and SAS Flight Academy. It entered the ab initio training market in June 2007 after acquiring <a href=”http://www.flyer.co.uk/news/newsfeed.php?artnum=693″ target=”_blank”>Oxford Aviation Training</a>, the largest ab initio pilot training school in Europe.
