NZICPA updates council committee

Published on 18 February 2026

The interim chief executive of the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy (NZICPA) Scott McKenzie and NZICPA board chair Craig Compain presented a report to the council’s council-controlled organisations and economic growth committee on Tuesday, 17 February.

With the New Zealand Airline Academy Limited (NZAAL) opening a branch of its flight school in Whanganui, NZICPA needed to vacate its Airport Road training facility and College Estate accommodation facility by 1 January this year. Compain says, “NZICPA has completed this process for both premises, with students and support staff now based at the Hato Hōhepa accommodation facility.”

“Base operations have moved to the Wanganui Aero Club,” says McKenzie, “which is now serving as the temporary training facility – and we’ve also leased space from Air Whanganui to carry out our aircraft maintenance activities.”

He says support from the Aero Club has been “fantastic and very welcoming. I would like to acknowledge club president Bruce Gordon and Dean Martin, Air Whanganui’s chief executive for their support.”

“I would also like to add a big thank you to the staff who have been working very hard under, at times, difficult circumstances,” says McKenzie. He says NZICPA continues to support the progression of students through their training programmes, with individual completion timelines managed in line with current operational capacity. “We are about halfway through graduating all our students.”

Thirty-four students remain with the academy and are expected to have completed their qualifications by the end of June 2026, while two domestic students who will have completed the first year of their two-year training programme, will be placed with an alternative training provider.

McKenzie says government agencies have been very helpful in facilitating this process. “The CAA conducted a two-day inspection in early February, their third visit since the shutdown, which resulted in zero findings and zero observations.”

“From a regulatory perspective,” says Compain, “the company’s never been healthier.”

Meanwhile, work is underway on the sale and disposal of surplus aircraft. Compain says the board will continue to monitor NZICPA’s operational wind-down and student progression arrangements and will provide further updates as appropriate.

Financial statements for the six months to December 2025 were provided and will be published on the council’s website.