The region had formulated a cross-regional bid including existing airports at Albury, Corowa, Yarrawonga and Tocumwal – which would have allowed the company to get around Albury Airport’s 9pm curfew.

More than 60 regional cities put forward a proposal, with Qantas shortlisting nine contenders; Alice Springs, Northern Territory; Bendigo, Victoria; Busselton, Western Australia; Dubbo, NSW; Launceston, Tasmania; Mackay, Queensland; Tamworth, New South Wales; Toowoomba, Queensland’ and Wagga Wagga, New South Wales.

Qantas Group Pilot Academy Executive Manager, Wes Nobelius said creating the shortlist wasn’t an easy decision. 

“The way that communities have come together to develop some outstanding proposals has been fantastic. From ideas around scholarships to a community photo shoot in Mackay and a video message from the children of Dubbo, we’ve been really impressed with the quality of responses and the level of support on offer,” he said.

But Mr Nobelius said cities could still be in contention to host a second academy if the demand for pilots was strong enough – including training foreign students on behalf of airlines overseas.

“We think there could be enough demand from the broader industry for us to train up to 500 pilots a year, and to do that we’re likely to need two separate academies because of the practical realities of trying to do that much training in a single location,” he said.

“Training on this scale represents a commercial opportunity for Qantas but it’s also about contributing to a talent pipeline that we rely on for more senior pilots down the track. These graduates might fly for other airlines, join the defence force or be part of services like the Royal Flying Doctors.

“The applications from cities that we’ve seen through this process show regional cities have the capacity to help make Australia a regional hub for pilot training, and the potential benefit that could bring for local economies is huge.”