A Perth pilot school and aircraft maintenance business plans to invest more than £2 million in new planes and adding staff.
ACS Aviation, based at Perth Airport, has spent £550,000 on two new aircraft which will arrive in the summer.
The firm has also taken on five new staff in the past year.
The investment will support the continued growth of its pilot training programme, the firm said.
When the two new aircraft arrive in the Fair City later this year, the business will have 22 aircraft operating from Perth.
Plans are also being made to add a further six state-of-the-art Tecnam aircraft to the fleet – at a cost of £1.65 million – over the next 18 months.
ACS Aviation currently has 352 students training towards a pilot’s licence.
In 2022/23, the business saw with 120 pilots graduate from the flight school – a 20% increase on the previous year.
Business soaring for Perth flying school
Managing director Graeme Frater said: “We are Scotland’s only European Union Aviation Safety Agency flight training academy, which has helped us to attract students from across the UK and Europe.
“Combine this with our analysis of published data from the leading aviation regulatory bodies which shows that the UK and Europe will encounter a significant shortfall of pilots over the next decade.
“We anticipate increasing numbers of students travelling to Perth to engage in pilot training over the coming years.”
The business now has 60 staff, with further recruitment planned this year.
Mr Frater added: “We work closely with Perth Airport-based Air Service Training to offer young people the opportunity to secure an aircraft engineering licence.
“We expect to see more apprentices joining the business in summer 2023.
“We are also actively recruiting flight instructors and have just announced our flight instructor sponsorship.”
Record financial year for Perth flight school
As the airport operator at Perth Airport, the business is also responsible for operating the control tower, airport fire service and aircraft refuelling.
During 2022 the airport saw a 22% increase in aircraft movements and additional revenue from aircraft fuel sales.
As a result of the increased activity, the business is on track for another record financial year.
The Perth firm achieved record turnover of £3.4 million in 2022/23, up from £2.9 million in 2021/22.
That figure is also predicted to increase further in 2023/24, to £3.9 million.
