CQUniversity officially opens Cairns Aviation Centre
Published:10 October 2019

Federal Minister for Education Dan Tehan officially opens the CQUniversity Cairns Campus Aviation Centre alongside Vice-Chancellor Professor Nick Klomp.
CQUniversity has today officially opened its Cairns Aviation Centre, located at the Cairns International Airport.
The Centre, also referred to as the Asia-Pacific Aviation Education and Research Hub, features state-of-the-art aviation simulation technologies and has been in operation for 12 months, addressing the needs of the aviation industry through the delivery of world-class higher education training.
CQUniversity has invested over $4.8 million into the facility that is providing the aviation industry with highly skilled graduate pilots and maintenance workers.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Nick Klomp was today joined by Federal Minister for Education Dan Tehan to officially open the building.
“CQUniversity is proud to have officially opened the Cairns Aviation Centre today,” Professor Klomp said.
“This is an impressive learning environment, immersing our students into the heart of all the aviation action.”
Professor Klomp said the Centre was addressing the global shortage of airline pilots, airport managers and aviation leaders by delivering courses including the Associate Degree in Aviation (Flight Operations), Bachelor of Aviation (Flight Operations) and Graduate Diploma in Aviation (Flight Operations).
“The Centre also provides regional airlines that are currently struggling to find pilots with a pool of work-ready graduates into the future,” he said.
“This facility shows that CQUniversity is committed to being the first university to offer tertiary aviation qualifications in Cairns and to provide a clear pathway for students to earn a commercial pilot’s licence.
“We’ve found in Cairns that if you’re willing to make a serious investment in new courses and make strong links with industry, then it delivers great results for the community, our students, and our university.”