The Moncton Flight College has been experiencing tremendous growth in recent years and much of it has come from international students, mainly from China.
The college forged an agreement with Chinese officials about 10 years ago to train pilots here and the aviation industry in that country continues to grow.
Moncton Flight College CEO Mike Tilley says the Chinese have faced some challenges in the aviation field.
“Part of the issues in China are environmental issues around pollution in the sky which prevents a horizon. For new pilots, they can’t quite fly with visual flight rules, so that is a bit of a challenge,” he says.
Tilley adds the military has historically had control of the airspace in China and the country tends to have large airports rather than many smaller ones.
He estimates about three-quarthers of students at the Moncton Flight College are international students and most are from China.
