Today, together with the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport  Anthony Albanese  the new state-of-art fire training facility at Melbourne Airport was opened.

The $22 million Learning Academy Hot Fire Training Ground is the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere and will combine aviation rescue and fire fighting training.The centrepiece of the new training ground is a full-sized mock-up aircraft fuselage over 56 metres long, 10 metres high and 29 metres wide, replicating sections from the Airbus A380 and Boeing 767 which will be used to simulate real-world fire fighting and rescue situations.

The new training facility is also home to the Trident Mk5, Striker Mk7 and Panther MK8, three of Australia’s largest fire fighting vehicles. Together, this equipment will help train about 250 fire fighters a year to respond to larger and newer aircraft that will land at Australian airports. The Learning Academy Hot Fire Training Ground is part of a $140 million investment over the next five years to modernise emergency services at the nation’s busiest airports, underscoring the Government’s commitment to keeping the Australian aviation industry one of the safest in the world.
The Learning Academy Hot Fire Training Ground will commence training operations later this week.