Montair Aviation, a flight training academy based in Pitt Meadows, B.C., has officially opened their second training base at Red Deer Airport. Earlier this year, Montair announced that after a review of several airports in Western Canada they had selected Red Deer to expand their training facilities and operations. Since that time, Montair has been preparing to welcome 80 air cadet students into Red Deer by the end of the year.
The new training base includes approximately 24,000 sq. ft. of aircraft hangar and main office space plus an accommodation building, kitchen and dining area that can accommodate approximately 80 students. These structures are all part of the Harvard Business Park lands which have been left underutilized since the departure of the DND Cadet program in 2014.
“Montair is extremely excited to now be operational at our new base in Red Deer. This facility will be the focal point of expansion for our company as it is in an ideal location to handle the growth plans we have. We are looking forward to working collaboratively with the Red Deer Airport, local community and all levels of government to further expand our training capabilities over the coming years,” said Ian Kennedy, Montair’s chief operating officer.
Currently, there are 30 students based at the Red Deer facility who began training on July 18th. Montair is expecting 30 more students to arrive into Red Deer by mid-August, with a total of 80 students to arrive by the end of the year. Primarily, these students are from the Civil Aviation Flight University of China (CAFUC), and within 12 months will graduate from Montair’s training program with an integrated Airline Transport Pilot Licence. They will then return to China for additional conversion training on commercial jet aircraft.
“We are pleased to see that Montair is now fully operational and has begun training at their new base here in Red Deer. With the addition of Montair, the airport is quickly becoming a hub for specialized flight training in the region. We look forward to working with Montair in the future and support their expansion plans at the Red Deer location which will create additional employment opportunities for Central Albertans,” said RJ Steenstra, CEO of the Red Deer Airport.
There are six Cessna 172 aircraft that are used for training at the Red Deer facility, with plans to double that number by the end of the year. Montair also has a state-of-the-art Alsim 200 multi-crew flight simulator that was recently delivered from France. Montair currently employs 15 staff at the Red Deer location with plans to add 15 more employees over the next 12 months.
– Fawcett
