Background
Qantas and global training provider CAE opened a new purpose-built flight training centre in St Peters, near Sydney Airport, on 18 November 2024. The facility trains thousands of new and existing Qantas and Jetstar pilots each year and marks the return of Sydney-based flight training for the group, which had relocated its simulators to Melbourne and Brisbane in 2021 to make way for the New South Wales Government's Sydney Gateway Road project.
Inside the centre
The centre is home to five full-flight simulators, three fixed training devices and ten classrooms, covering the Airbus A320, A330 and A380 and the Boeing 737 and 787. A full-flight simulator places a complete replica cockpit on a motion platform in front of a wraparound visual display that renders a real-time 3D view of the outside world, letting crews rehearse normal operations and emergencies without leaving the ground.
Technology and operation
CAE operates the centre and maintains all of its training equipment, drawing on a global network of more than 70 civil training centres. At least one of the full-flight simulators is a current-generation CAE 7000XR device, and the simulators' visual systems run CAE's real-time 3D image-generation software locally. Senior Qantas and Jetstar training captains deliver the training for pilots from both airlines.
How pilots train
Pilots typically complete four simulator sessions a year to stay current in their qualifications, rising to up to 15 sessions when converting to a new aircraft type. The first group of Qantas A321XLR pilots is already training at the centre ahead of that aircraft's arrival in 2025.
Project Sunrise and expansion
Further equipment will arrive over the coming years, including Australia's first Airbus A350 full-flight simulator — CAE's latest-generation A350 device — due in late 2025 to train pilots for Qantas's ultra-long-haul Project Sunrise flights, with Sydney set to be the anchor city for those services. Ground training will continue at St Peters until mid-2026, when Qantas opens a dedicated ground training facility in nearby Mascot, freeing space for the centre to focus solely on pilot simulator training.
