Company History

Oxford Aviation Academy is the world’s leading independent provider of aviation training, personnel solutions and technical support services.

A new global force in aviation emerged with the establishment of Oxford Aviation Academy. OAA evolved from the combination of GCAT Flight Academy (created in February 2007 by combining the UK, Far East, Scandinavian and Baltic facilities and operations of GECAT and SAS Flight Academy) and Oxford Aviation Training, the largest ab initio airline pilot training school in Europe that was acquired in June 2007. BAE Systems training facility at Woodford, Manchester was also acquired in December 2007. Parc Aviation was acquired in July 2008 adding Aviation Resourcing to the group portfolio.

OAA's recently acquired General Flying Services, the leading ab initio airline pilot training school in Australia. The business adds significant scale and geographic presence to OAA’s ab initio training capability, enhancing the Group’s service offering in the Australia and Asia Pacific region.

OAA offers JAA approved aviation training from ab initio through to type rating including base and line training. Cabin Crew and EASA 147 approved Engineering training are also provided by the Academy. The recent acquisition of Parc Aviation adds aviation resourcing and technical support services to the Group portfolio.

Aviation Training - Ab initio [click here to expand]

Oxford Flying Club was officially opened by the Mayor of Oxford in 1939. However, its life was initially rather short, and as the country prepared for war, restrictions placed on civil flying quickly curtailed its activities. Resurrected in 1947 and renamed the Oxford Aeroplane club, it gradually increased its fleet and reputation and, by 1960, had made the important transition from a club for private pilots to a fully-fledged flying school geared to the training of professional pilots.

As the parent company, Oxford Aviation, expanded, so too did the training offered by the school, and by 1961, when it merged with the Pressed Steel Co to become British Executive Air Services Ltd, Oxford was firmly established as one of the UK’s leading Flight Training Schools. Dedicated ground school buildings and student residential accommodation on site were quickly provided, and the first fully integrated Commercial Pilot’s Licence and Instrument Rating courses began in May 1962.

In 1963, the BEAS Flying Training Division was renamed Oxford Air Training School and the rest, so they say, is history. Forty two years later, over twenty thousand trained commercial pilots and aircraft engineers have graduated from the School and can be found flying for many of the world’s leading airlines. Despite a change of name to OAA towards the end of the last decade, the quality and reputation of the training remains as high as ever and OAA is still universally recognised as one of the world’s premier Flight Training Organisations.

Our reputation has been built primarily through our training of pilots for the major airlines. In 1966, we were training 50 students a year for British European Airways and the British Overseas Airways Corporation. Others airlines, such as Swissair, Olympic Airways, All-Nippon Airways and Libyan Arab Airlines swiftly followed. By 1972 we had won contracts to train pilots for forty-six major airlines and government bodies representing sixty-two countries throughout the world.

The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are the UK’s most prestigious awards for business performance. They recognise and reward outstanding achievement by UK companies. Awarded in 1972, the then Queen’s Award was presented to OAA for innovation, quality and pioneering success in the field of ab-initio airline pilot training. We are justifiably proud of this achievement and these qualities still form the foundation of our business and training activities today.

In 1970, we also introduced a Basic Aeronautical Engineering Course, thus giving birth to the aviation engineering training side of our business which still exists today. During the 80's and 90's, our airline contracts increased with a number of Middle and Far Eastern customers such as Air Algerie, Iraq Airways, Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways also starting to send students to Oxford. Others came from further afield, including the Republic of China, Brunei and Singapore. However, it is still our relationships with well known European airlines such as British Airways, Thomas Cook, flybe, Air Greenland, Jet2 and bmi to name just a few - which continues to endorse our reputation today.

Flight Crew Training (Type) [click here to expand]

The Type Training Division of OAA was formed from the acquisition and integration of the following leading names in aviation training.

SAS Flight Academy

SAS Flight Academy has a long history and experience of training flight crew, cabin crew and maintenance engineers dating back to 1946 when the Flight Academy was a department of Scandinavian Airlines System. SAS Flight Academy was established as a customer-orientated training company in 1985. It was then developed to meet not only the Flight Crew and Cabin Crew training needs of its parent company, but also to provide high quality training services to external customers.

In 1988, SAS Flight Academy opened the training centre in Stockholm at Arlanda Airport, and then expanded rapidly to meet the increasing demands of SAS and an increasing number of external customers. In 1995 the training centre in Copenhagen was opened and subsequently a training centre in Oslo, Norway was also established. During that time the number of full flight simulators operated increased from six to sixteen, and the types of aircraft for which training courses could be provided increased to cover most commercial aircraft types.

GE Commercial Aviation Training

In September 1998, GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS) acquired the training centre of Raytheon based in London Gatwick. The facility at Gatwick can trace its history back to 1981 when it was established by American Airlines. Subsequently, the training centre expanded and changed ownership a number of times. On acquisition by GECAS, the business was renamed GE Commercial Aviation Training (GECAT).

In October 1998, GECAT became the first Independent flight crew training centre in Europe to become a Type Rating Training Organisation (TRTO) under JAR – FCL.

A period of growth followed, and in April 2000 GECAT expanded it’s operations through an agreement signed with Cathay Pacific Airways to establish operations at Cathay's new Hong Kong flight training centre. Subsequently, GECAT signed a 10-year agreement with British Midland as their flight simulator training partner. GECAT purchased existing A320 and 737 simulators, and operates from BMI’s Heathrow training centre.

The number of full flight simulators operated by GECAT increased to 14 by the time it was acquired by STAR Capital Partners.

BAE Systems Customer Training Centre

In December 2007, OAA acquired the business of the BAE Systems Customer Training Centre at the BAE production centre at Woodford Aerodrome, near Manchester. The training centre provided flight crew, cabin crew and maintenance engineer training to operators of the BAE Systems fleet of regional aircraft including the BAe 146, Avro RJ, BAe ATP and the Jetstream 31/32/41.

Today these businesses have been united to provide full range of training courses and flight simulator availability for commercial and military flight crew, cabin crew and maintenance engineers worldwide.

Aviation Resourcing (Parc Aviation) [click here to expand]

Parc Aviation, part of the Oxford Aviation Academy Group, is the leading international provider of personnel solutions to the airline industry. From our headquarters close to Dublin Airport, we provide a comprehensive range of aviation services and solutions to airlines, MROs, aircraft leasing companies and manufacturers worldwide:

Flight Crew

Parc Aviation specializes in the sourcing and assigning of the required flight crew personnel to complement an airline’s operations during phases such as:

Aircraft fleet expansion
Entry-Into-Service of new aircraft
Periods of higher market demand e.g. seasonal
Conversion training programmes

Technical Support Services

The technical recruitment specialists provide the full of range of licensed and unlicensed engineers in addition to associated technical skills and expertise:

Technical personnel for all aspects of MRO activity, including major overhaul and modification programmes
Certifying staff for line maintenance activities
Fully screened and experienced technical representatives based worldwide to assist with all aspects of the aircraft delivery and redelivery process.

Ferry Flight / Aircraft Lessor Services

Parc Aviation is continuing to enhance aircraft asset management and protection through the addition of integrated solutions dedicated to the aircraft leasing industry:

Aircraft Delivery/Redelivery

Technical Representation
Inspection of Aircraft & Engines/Technical Audit Assessments
Aircraft & Engine Records Review and Management
Lease Compliance Review
Airworthiness Management

Ferry Flight Services

Provision of qualified and experienced flight crew
Flight planning and actual flight progress reporting
Over flight / landing permissions / Diplomatic clearances
Fuel uplift
Crew visas and security clearances including TSA approval
Trip kits

Executive Recruitment

With over 30 years aviation recruitment and selection experience, Parc Aviation is ideally positioned to assist airlines and aviation companies locate and attract the best people for their organisations. Over the years, we have recruited senior management executives up to and including CEO level for a comprehensive range of aviation organisations.

Parc Aviation Japan, Tokyo

Parc Aviation established its subsidiary company, Parc Aviation Japan as a result of increased demand for its specialist services in Japan and the wider Asia-pacific region. Since entering the Japanese market in 1992, Parc Aviation’s customer base has grown to 11 client airlines and this prompted the opening of the office in Tokyo in July 2006. The Tokyo facility provides local service support and assistance to our growing number of client airlines and our contract personnel on assignment there.

Parc Aviation, Beijing Office

Parc Aviation opened its Chinese office in Beijing in February 2008 to provide local support and assistance to a growing customer base and local personnel on assignment there.

Parc Aviation, Shannon, Ireland

Parc Aviation’s Shannon based personnel provide recruitment support and assistance to our MRO and leasing company customers as well as contract personnel based in and around Shannon Airport. Having locally based personnel enables Parc Aviation to be onsite quickly to respond to new requirements and deal with all matters in relation to the contract personnel.