Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

£1 million investment into Perth flying school

ACS Aviation managing director Graeme Frater.
ACS Aviation managing director Graeme Frater.

A Perth flying school and aircraft maintenance company has made a £1 million investment in aircraft and equipment.

Based at Perth Airport, ACS Aviation has set its sights on becoming one of Europe’s leading commercial flying schools.

The company has more than doubled its workforce over the past year and boosted enrolment of would-be pilots for its commercial training programmes after extending their range and flexibility.

The firm, founded in 2007, has also purchased a new commercial flight simulator and a new aircraft, a Diamond DA42 Twinstar, used for commercial flight training.

Managing director Graeme Frater said: “Our aim was to be Scotland’s best and busiest commercial flying school and we have already achieved that.

“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 to 31 employees.

“We have invested in the building, a new aircraft and simulator and formed strategic partnerships with specialist training companies such as Simtech Aviation and Path2Pilot, as well as commercial airlines like Loganair, who use the simulator.

“We are the only flying school in Scotland that can offer commercial training with this combination of aircraft and simulator.

“We are well set up for further growth and are optimistic about growing Perth Airport’s international reputation as one-stop shop for commercial flight training.”

ACS courses are modular, allowing trainees to fit instruction and flying hours around work commitments, at prices lower than large multinational schools.

Current students include trainee pilots from the Netherlands and Italy, as well as UK nationals.

The firm’s seven figure investment has been welcomed by Invest in Perth, the inward investment arm of Perth and Kinross Council.

A spokesman said: “We are delighted to see this significant investment in a local company and the highly skilled employment opportunities this brings to Perth & Kinross.

“The investment in the local infrastructure via the Tay Cities Deal will hopefully open up more opportunities for companies within the airport business park.”

ACS houses and works closely with Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance, which is capable of reaching 90% of Scotland’s population within 25 minutes in an emergency.

rmclaren@thecourier.co.uk