Press Release

Issued by Gama Aviation.

August 1, 2016

Gama Aviation Plc, the global aviation services company has entered into an agreement with CATS Aviation Training to jointly promote each other's services for new and recurrent training requirements. The agreement will see both parties marketing and selling their respective courses.

The move by both companies comes almost a year after Gama Aviation signed an agreement with CAE to provide part-FCL services to CAE students; a service that provides in air training on over 30 types to comply with EASA's regulations.

Globally demand for pilots is increasing, with Boeing's most recent Pilot and Technician Outlook forecasting that the industry will require an additional 558,000 commercial airline pilots between 2015 and 2034. The biggest increase is predicted to be in the developing market of the Asia-Pacific region where 226,000 new pilots will be needed. However, even the mature markets of the US and Europe are forecast to require 95,000 new pilots each. With many countries seeing a reduction in opportunities through traditional training routes, such as the military or commercial airlines' in-house training schools, there is an urgent need to provide alternative training capacity.

Graeme Pollard, head of training for Gama Aviation's EASA Ground School comments: “This is a natural fit to add another partner to our training capability. CATS customers who attend and pass their ATPL, may well become future business aviation pilots and they will rely on courses such as our Part-FCL, CRM, and Command training courses to reach their career aspirations.”

Matt Harvey, general manager of CATS Aviation commented: “This agreement makes sense for us and our customer base of existing commercial pilots and those that are aspiring to move into commercial roles. We have previously looked into extending our services into the ground school areas that Gama Aviation occupies, but when you consider their expertise and track record in this area it made much more sense for both sides to co-promote their offers rather than compete.”

The agreement also marks the transition point for Gama Aviation's ground training department as it begins to move all course bookings online.

Graeme Pollard adds: “Feedback from our clients suggested this was a neater, hassle free way of booking courses. We have responded by providing added functionality to the training section of the website. Calls for booking will also be taken but all the transactions moving forward will be via credit card payments with the exception of group bookings.”