Helicopter pilot flight school Helicentre Aviation has invested more than $1,100,000 in a new multi-engine operations and training centre of excellence at London Oxford airport. The company has expanded its highly successful professional pilot training academy and will also be extending the scope of its existing air operations division, encompassing aerial surveillance and charter, to the new location.

The venture is set to create additional jobs and further strengthen the output of the crew supply chain services that Helicentre provides, predominantly to fulfil North Sea, onshore and UK search and rescue flight crew recruitment needs. The new centre’s proximity to London will be key in accommodating international clients as well as those based in the south of England.

Helicentre’s expansion into Oxford is well underway. It includes refurbishment of one of the existing buildings at London Oxford airport and interior design of a simulator suite to house a new Entrol AW109 SP FNPT II with MCC that should be delivered later this month and will be the primary FSTD for the academy’s IR procedural training. Helicentre became entrol's first UK customer in January this year, signing a purchase order for an H19/AW109 SP FNPT II MCC simulator; it obtained CAA approval for the multi-engine instrument rating alongside the purchase of its first Leonardo AW109 Grand.

In addition, Helicentre will be continuing its fleet expansion from the 16 helicopters currently owned and operated nationwide, a combination of Cabri G2, Robinson R44 and AW109 helicopters. A range of approved courses currently available at its Leicester airport ATO headquarters in the Midlands will also be delivered at Oxford. Smart lecture rooms and briefing facilities are being incorporated into the base, mirroring the company’s existing high-tech operations room and training centre.

The Oxford facility is set to be operational by September.