Empty flight school mooted as additional quarantine facility for international students

Tuesday, 9 March 2021

An empty flight school shut down amid Covid-19 may be revived as a quarantine facility welcoming international students back into Waikato.

The L3 Airline Academy, based at Hamilton Airport, confirmed it would close in 2020, citing the global pandemic.

About 500 cadets learned to fly at the site, most of whom came from overseas. 170 local staff lost their job as a result of the closure.

Hamilton City Council’s economic development committee chair Ryan Hamilton told councillors on Tuesday work was being done on whether the facility could be used as quarantine accommodation for international students.

* Hamilton flight school could be first of many to depart New Zealand skies

* Proposal to bring bubbles of 300 RSE workers to Hastings for managed isolation

About 500 mostly international students and 170 local staff were based at Hamilton's flight school before the facility closed due to Covid-19.

International students brought $280 million to Waikato's economy each year, Hamilton told Stuff.

Te Waka regional economic development agency, Waikato University, Wintec and Hamilton City Council were investigating the proposal.

In January, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced 1000 international students would be allowed in the country in 2021. About 300 would be arriving to managed isolation facilities in April, the next 700 as space in the facilities allowed.

Councillor Ryan Hamilton said work was being done to investigate the potential of the empty flight school, if rules relaxed around international students and quarantine facilities.

Hamilton said the city needed to be ready for international students if government policy changed to allow more in.

'It's early days yet, but we are looking at how we could use the empty facility, which is actually really nice.

“The L3 facilities are quite isolated, it's got accommodation with separate kitchens and bathrooms, so you could almost have sub-bubbles.”

The facility could be used on top of managed isolation hotels for international students if standards relax due to widespread vaccination.

“If the isolation rules soften we might be able to extend the bubbles to less stringent facilities – I’m just speculating.”

Hamilton airport chief executive Mark Morgan told Stuff the L3 Academy had pumped about $60 to $80 million into the regional economy when it was operating.

Hamilton city council and others had lobbied the Government to help the flight school avoid closure by allowing some international students in the country.

“We believe the flight school could have been saved if we could have got students across the border,” Morgan said.

He said it was very unlikely L3 would enter New Zealand again.

“It could be used as another training facility or another flight school could look to get involved, but these are all maybes.”

Plane manufacturer Pacific Aerospace, also based at Hamilton airport, is now in full liquidation, after declaring insolvency to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in February.

That business employed about 100 people to manufacture aircraft used in 55 countries.

“It’s now up to the liquidators to attempt to either sell the business or divest the assets of that business,” Morgan said.

He understood Pacific Aerospace was talking with a number of parties interested in buying it.

Morgan 'absolutely” hoped the site could continue as another aircraft manufacturing business.