Apex Aviation is to offer air transportation services for offshore wind operators off the west coast starting next year, the airline said yesterday.
Established in 2014 to operate Apex Flight Academy, the nation’s first flight training school, Apex Aviation later branched out to provide air transport for domestic travelers and for emergency medical situations.
Apex Aviation chairman Wilson Kao (高健祐) announced the services to offshore wind energy operators at an event in Taipei celebrating the company’s 10th anniversary.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
The company plans to obtain six Airbus H145 helicopters to offer the service, making it the first aviation service operator in Taiwan to use such aircraft, Kao said.
The service would be based at Changhua Coastal Industrial Park (彰濱工業區), he said.
Amid a rise in Taiwanese tourists to Japan, the company has also applied to offer business charter flights to Japan’s Yonaguni Island, he said.
It aims to secure permission to provide the service by the first half of next year, he added.
Prior to the official launch, the company would conduct a trial flight to Japan’s Ishigaki Island, he said.
Meanwhile, the company would add a fourth P2012 SMP twin engine aircraft to expand its general aviation business, he said.
To address a shortage of civil aviation pilots, the company would also add a Diamond DA40 single-engine plane to expand its trainer fleet to 10, Kao said.
Since 2014, the flight academy has trained 117 pilots who are employed by Taiwanese airlines.
Two-thirds of Tigerair Taiwan’s copilots are alumni of Apex, he said.
In addition to Taiwanese, the academy has trainees from Vietnam, Italy, Malaysia and Japan, he added.
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