Newcastle International Airport is celebrating 15 years of collaboration with Newcastle College, a local further and higher education college.
The partnership has led to almost 70 students going on to have successful careers in the industry.
Situated near the airport, Newcastle College's Aviation Academy is a specialised educational facility for aspiring aviation professionals.
In 2014, the two institutions jointly introduced an ambassador programme, specifically designed for aviation operations students at the Aviation Academy. The ambassador programme volunteering scheme invites students from the Aviation Academy to spend time at the airport and learn about the different departments, including security, passenger services and operations.
Nicola Largue, aviation programme leader at Newcastle College, said: “Last academic year more than 20 students successfully gained employment at the airport through the ambassador programme, working within different airport departments such as passenger services and security, as well as within onsite business partners such as Swissport, in despatching and check-in roles.
“Of these students, some have returned to education with us and continued working part-time at the airport too.”
We have seen over and over that these students are capable of applying their skills to many different departments
Tara Hurst, Newcastle Airport customer operations officer, said: “The young people studying at the Aviation Academy clearly already have an interest in the aviation industry. Being able to have them on site and see them putting their learning into action alongside our teams lets us see their potential.
“We have seen over and over that many of these students are capable of applying their skills and enthusiasm to many different departments and are a good resource for us to develop.”
Aaron Buckingham, (pictured) a former Newcastle College aviation operations student, is passenger services operations manager at Newcastle Airport. He said: “When I took part in the ambassador programme 10 years ago, I got to know the operations manager for passenger services, which helped me to get my first job here.
“Then I went back to college for a year to complete my Level 3 before getting a permanent job in passenger services, where I still work today."
Image: Newcastle College
