Oxford Aviation Academy

Oxford Aviation Academy stands on the edge of London Oxford Airport, a working airfield where grass runways still cross tarmac. The school grew from a small flying club opened in 1939 by the mayor of Oxford, which closed during the Second World War and reopened in 1947. By 1960 it had become a professional pilot training school, and in 1961 it merged with the Pressed Steel Company to form British Executive Air Services. Dedicated ground school buildings and student accommodation were added on site, and the first fully integrated courses began in May 1962. The school has trained more than twenty thousand commercial pilots and aircraft engineers since then. The academy now operates 125 training aircraft and 64 flight simulators across ten centres worldwide. Its seven approved training centres deliver courses for airline pilots, cabin crew and maintenance engineers on Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier, BAE Systems and Embraer types. Over the past fifty years the Oxford Aviation Academy has trained more than twenty-six thousand professional pilots. The Airline Pilot Programme First Officer course leads to a ‘Frozen’ airline transport pilot licence once 1,500 hours have been completed in a multi-pilot environment. In 2008 the academy acquired General Flying Services at Moorabbin Airport in Victoria, Australia. Visitors to the Oxford site find the original ground school buildings and student residential blocks still in use. Piper PA-28 Warriors and Piper PA-34 Senecas fly circuits from the grass runways, their tailplanes marked with the academy’s insignia. The academy’s fleet includes these piston trainers alongside more advanced types used for simulator sessions. The airfield remains a busy training environment, with instructors and students moving between classrooms, aircraft and simulators throughout the day.