Air New Zealand is today launching a specialist Aviation Institute which will provide a comprehensive range of training covering most airline industry roles within a single organisation.

Air New Zealand's training organisation has a 70 year track record as a specialist post-employment aviation training provider, with many of its graduates now holding senior management positions within the global industry. The Air New Zealand Aviation Institute will now take that experience to a new level offering a full complement of pre and post-employment training opportunities.

The Institute will continue to provide the majority of Air New Zealand's own aviation training needs as well as outsourced training for other airlines, operators and aircraft maintenance organisations around the world, helping ensure the future supply of high quality graduates. It will also offer international-airline-standard facilities and programmes to local and international students seeking a career in the industry.

Three years in development, Air New Zealand has added considerable curriculum and training infrastructure to bolster its training capabilities. The Institute is a one stop shop not just for pilot training, but also for other airline roles such as engineers, flight attendants and front line check-in staff.

A major new initiative is the introduction of ab-initio flight training through the Aviation Institute's First Officer Programme. Initial flight training will be provided by one of five partner organisations and complemented by commercial airline entry assessments, training standards and advanced training modules through to first turbo-prop or jet type rating. The five partner organisations are Air Hawkes Bay, International Aviation Academy of New Zealand, Massey University, Nelson Aviation College and Southern Wings.

Other new additions to Air New Zealand's training curriculum and infrastructure include;

European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certified aircraft maintenance type training

Boeing 777-300 training suite comprising of a CAE 7000 series full flight simulator and dedicated flight and maintenance training devices

ATR72 full flight simulator

Airline Integration Course - bridging the gap between ab initio flight training and first turbo-prop or jet type rating

Customer service pre employment training producing job-ready graduates for frontline aviation roles

Leadership programmes

From 2012 the Air New Zealand Aviation Institute will also offer an internationally recognised Diploma in Aeronautical Maintenance Certification, aligned with European regulations.

The Air New Zealand Aviation Institute has five schools based at two main campuses in Auckland and Christchurch and satellite facilities across New Zealand, as well as eight Auckland based flight simulators. It has 150 staff and delivers around 35,000 individual courses annually.