China Southern West Australian Flying College enters liquidation

21 December 2020 © David Eyre

China Southern West Australian Flying College (CSWAFC) has entered voluntary liquidation today (21 December 2020), with 62 staff losing their jobs. Their Grob G-115 aircraft and Merredin Airport are to be sold.

Grant Thornton Australia was appointed as the liquidator, stating that Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic border closures affected the ongoing viability of the business.

CSWAFC was established in 1993 at Jandakot Airport in Western Australia and trained 120 pilots each year for China Southern Airlines.

In 1995, Merredin Airport, 260 kilometres east of Perth, was sold to China Southern Airlines for $1 by the local shire. China Southern then spent over $1million upgrading the airport and building a training facility there, in addition to the Jandakot facility. CSWAFC ceased operating from Merredin in 2016, when it was suspended by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority due to the departure of the Chief Pilot.

There were 48 student pilots training with CSWAFC at Jandakot Airport when the company entered liquidation. The liquidators are working with China Southern Airlines to find a way for the pilots to complete their training.

CSWAFC staff are assisting the liquidators with closing down the Jandakot operations.

A total of 40 Grob G115 single-engined training aircraft are registered to CSWAFC and these will be sold in 2021.

In addition, CSWAFC also leased a number of Piper PA-44 Seminole aircraft from Airflite, for multi-engine training, so these may also end up being sold by Airflite.