ACS Aviation, a Scottish flying school and aircraft maintenance company, has announced a £1 million investment in aircraft, airside facilities and online presence.
Based at Perth Airport, the former WWII airfield owned by Morris Leslie Group, is earmarked as a potential site for further development in the UK and Scottish Government-backed Tay Cities Deal.
Potential upgrading of the airfield and its surrounding facilities under the plan would bring substantial business and tourism benefits to the Tayside economy according to ACS.
Graeme Frater, managing director of ACS Aviation said: “In the past 12 months we have seen a 10% increase in the number of visiting aircraft to Perth Airport and grown our workforce from 13 employees to 31 employees in 12 months.
Recently the airport runway lighting was upgraded which is expected to further increase movements, and we have purchased a new commercial flight simulator (Alsim AL42) and an new aircraft, a Diamond DA42 Twinstar, used for commercial flight training.
Having invested in the building, in a new aircraft and simulator, and formed strategic partnerships with specialist training companies such as Simtech Aviation and Path2Pilot, we are well set up for growth and optimistic about growing Perth Airport’s international reputation as one-stop shop for commercial flight training.”
But there are challenges ahead, and our offer to flying school and maintenance customers requires that Perth Airport be allowed to develop as a thriving mixed development within the transformed economic landscape promised by the Tay Cities Deal.”
ACS also works with Perth College-owned Air Service Training (AST) who provide the training for ACS’s two apprentice engineers taking B1 Licenced Engineering course and a university graduate through the ScotGrad scheme through Skills Development Scotland and a Modern Apprentice working in its stores and logistics department.
