| February 7, 2002
BECKER HELICOPTERS AIM SKY-HIGH
Minister for Innovation
and Information Economy, Paul Lucas, touched down on the Sunshine Coast
today to visit commercial pilot training facility, Becker Helicopters.
The company has begun
training five cadet pilots from Hong Kong after signing a lucrative contract
that Mr Lucas personally witnessed during a trade delegation to China
last year.
“I was in Hong
Kong in October when this contract was signed, and it’s great today
to be on the Sunshine Coast to see it in action,” Mr Lucas said.
“This contract
was no mean feat for Becker Helicopters, they took on seven companies
in Canada and the United States and came out winners.”
The contract provides
commercial helicopter training for five cadet pilots from East Asia Airlines
and Helicopters Hong Kong, who will live in Becker’s world-class
facilities on the Sunshine Coast.
Today, Mr Lucas was
shown the tailor-made program that Becker Helicopters is running, which
includes up to 150 hours of flight time and more than 800 hours of ground
schooling.
“I congratulate
East Asia Airlines, Helicopters Hong Kong and Becker Helicopters on their
partnership, and I hope this is the beginning of a long and mutually beneficial
relationship,” Mr Lucas said.
Mr Lucas praised
the company as an innovative Smart State success story.
“Becker Helicopters
started up just over five years ago, and they’re reaching for the
sky with their plans for the future,” Mr Lucas said.
Becker Helicopters
trains students from all over the world including Canada, Japan, Denmark,
South Africa, Netherlands, UK and New Zealand, with 85% of its students
from abroad.
Captain Jan Becker
said the company’s focus was now on becoming the “centre of
choice” for helicopter training in the Southern Hemisphere.
“This year
we hope to establish an Airline Transport Pilots’ License training
system, with instrument flying training and a helicopter simulator,”
Captain Becker said.
“We’re
building new training facilities including a new hangar and classrooms,
and we hope to become the first in the southern hemisphere to provide
off-shore survival course training, for ship-to-shore rescues,”
she said.
Mr Lucas is currently
visiting the Sunshine Coast region and looking at examples of innovation
in the region. |
