The Qantas Group will train pilots at a new purpose-built centre in Sydney across its current and future fleet including the aircraft that will operate non-stop flights from the east coast of Australia to London and New York. A new multi-million-dollar facility is proposed for St Peters near Sydney Airport and would provide training for up to 4,500 new and current Qantas and Jetstar pilots and cabin crew each year from early 2024.

The centre is expected to house up to eight full motion flight simulators, including for the Airbus A350 and A320 family of aircraft that were recently ordered as part of the airline’s Project Sunrise flights and Qantas and Jetstar’s domestic fleet renewal.

The development is subject to planning approvals, with a submission lodged by LOGOS who will develop the centre in partnership with CAE and Qantas. The New South Wales Government has declared this proposal as state significant and will expedite its assessment.

Qantas relocated simulators from Sydney to Melbourne and Brisbane in 2021 to make way for the NSW Government’s Sydney Gateway road project. Sydney-based pilots currently travelling interstate to do their training will resume training in their home state when this facility opens in early 2024.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said the new training facility in Sydney would ensure the national carrier’s high training standards continue as it introduces a new generation of aircraft types. CAE’s President and CEO Marc Parent said, “As the global leader in civil aviation training, we are thrilled to be expanding CAE’s global network to Sydney, Australia to support the Qantas Group, a company that shares our unwavering commitment to safety.

Qantas’ national flight training footprint includes centers in three states including the newly opened Qantas Brisbane Flight Training Centre, as well as the Qantas Group Pilot Academy in Toowoomba which supports the airline’s long-term pipeline of talent and its Nancy Bird Walton initiative to reach 40 per cent intake of female cadet pilots by 2028.