CTC announces ambitious international growth plans

CTC Aviation, the airline training and pilot resource company based in the United Kingdom and New Zealand has announced ambitious plans to expand globally as it releases new research revealing huge anticipated growth in the aviation sector, and unprecedented demand for new pilots.   To capitalise on this, over the past 12 months, it has invested significantly in its business, which includes new and upgraded pilot training simulators and aircraft worth collectively £7 million.

New research 1 amongst 916 senior airline personnel, pilots and other aviation professionals around the world reveals that only 2.7% expect the global number of air passengers to decline over the next five years, with 90.9% expecting an increase.  Overall, more than one in three of those polled anticipate a double-digit percentage rise.

CTC had sales of £27.9 million in 2012 and saw its international sales increase by 52%.  Last year, it was ranked the 32nd fastest growing private British owned business for international sales2.  The company says that there is a strong demand for pilot training on a global basis, but particularly in emerging markets.  The company’s chief executive Rob Clarke attended the recent UK investment and trade delegation to India, which was led by Prime Minister David Cameron, and has announced that it will develop a new airline pilot training programme exclusively for Indian pilots.

Rob Clarke, CTC’s Chief Executive said: “Globally, there are around 22,000 commercial jets, and this is forecast to grow to 40,000 by 2030.  Furthermore, there are currently some 147,000 pilots, but between now and 2021, we need to find a further 235,000 to pilot the growing fleet of aircraft, meet the increased demand for airline travel and to replace those who will retire.

“We are seeing growth in all of our markets, but the emerging ones perhaps offer the most exciting opportunities. The region with the highest number of aircraft on order is Asia, and in total it accounts for some 40% of the world’s demand for new aircraft.  The number of new aircraft to be delivered to Asia equates to around 56% of its current fleet size.

“We have a strong reputation in the market, which is reflected in the fact that we work with over 50 global airlines each year, including British Airways, easyJet, flydubai, Monarch Airlines, Jetstar, Dragonair and Qatar Airways to name but a few.  As the aviation sector grows and demand for pilots escalates, we are determined to capitalise on this opportunity.  However, we will only succeed if we remain true to our values of providing a quality, innovative and flexible service that is underpinned by aviation expertise.”

CTC’s research1 amongst pilots reveals that globally, they believe that the Asia Pacific aviation market will see the strongest revenue growth over the next 10 years.  Some 41% anticipate that it will increase by more than 40% over this period, compared to 26.7% who said this for the Middle East market.  This is followed by 19.2% who expect this scale of growth for the aviation sector in Africa.

    

The percentage of pilots who expect this aviation market to see revenue growth of over 40% during the next 10 years

Asia Pacific           41.0%
 
Middle East           26.7%

Africa                   19.2%

South America      14.1%

Central America      9.9%

North America         5.6%
 
Europe                   4.8%

 

In June 2012 Inflexion Private Equity completed a management buyout of CTC Aviation Group which saw the firm work with the existing management team to accelerate CTC’s international growth