Finchglow Holdings is advancing plans to establish a private flying school at Gateway Airport in Ogun State, subject to regulatory and airport approvals, as the company seeks to expand access to professional pilot training in Nigeria and West Africa.
Group Managing Director of Finchglow Holdings, Mr. Bankole Bernard, disclosed the plan during a briefing, saying the proposed school would respond to growing demand from aspiring pilots seeking professional training.Bernard said some prospective students were being discouraged by concerns about existing training options in Nigeria, prompting them to consider training in countries such as South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.
‘The good news is that we have a lot of students within the West Coast that want to come to [Nigeria]…’ he said.
According to him, some young people could eventually abandon their ambitions of becoming pilots, while others may be forced to seek training outside their home countries.
‘So, they will either abort the dream, or they now have to fly outside their country, maybe to South Africa, London, or America,’ he added.
Bernard said Finchglow saw an opportunity to create another training option within Nigeria while attracting students from neighbouring West African countries.
He said the company was awaiting the necessary regulatory approvals before proceeding with the project. Finchglow is also seeking approval from Gateway Airport for space where construction and related activities can commence.
‘We have said to ourselves, we’re hoping that when the approval comes out, we’ll take our school to the Gateway so that we can open that chapter of our thesis,’ Bernard said.
Nigeria already has established aviation training institutions, including the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, and the International Aviation College, Ilorin, which offer professional pilot training programmes.
Finchglow would therefore enter an existing domestic training market, although Bernard indicated that the company intends to target students across West Africa.
Bernard said Finchglow would not necessarily compete by offering the lowest fees, stressing that the priority would be to develop a training programme capable of attracting students through quality and its overall offering.
‘We cannot start talking about availability, because what is important first is to create something that will even appeal to the people,’ he said.
He acknowledged that maintaining training standards could result in a different pricing structure.
‘Price is not in competition. When we started here too, we realized that if we are going to keep to the standards, we have to charge something different from others,’ he said.