Newport has been chosen above other sites across Europe as the base for a state-of-the-art training establishment for the next generation of aircraft technicians and Business Argus got to look behind the scenes to see how the new venture at Testia was going.

Brian Hall, chief executive of Testia, showed us round the complex, which is on the same site as EADS at Celtic Springs Business Park on the west side of Newport. It has been designed to train non-destructive test technicians and apprentices who are involved in testing aircraft to make sure they are safe to fly.

Mr Hall, who is heading up the new venture which is hoped will see up to 1,400 apprentices pass through its doors each year when it is fully-operational, said: “We looked at all of our sites across Europe before deciding to set up here in Newport.

“Because this is a training school there will be lots of people coming here and they’ll be looking for somewhere to stay while they are here and the fact that we have so many hotels nearby was another attraction in choosing this site. Since we opened we have received offers from hotels in Newport and Cardiff for good rates for the people we’ll be training. So we know that by basing Testia here will be an economic benefit to the area.”

That benefit also ran to local tradesmen who were employed during the refit of the site to get it up to standard as the new training facility.

“We worked with local companies including electricians and plumbers during the refit,” said Mr Hall.

When we visited the first members of the training team had joined. They included Gary Turner, who has moved to the area from Oldham, a non-destructive test senior technician and instructor, and Benoit St Paul, who has recently moved to the Newport site from Toulouse. Charlotte Smith, from Abertillery, has worked for Testia since July on the administration side of things.

Gary explained that ‘non-destructive testing’ meant running some very hi-tech tests on parts of an aircraft without the need to take the machine to pieces. Each test is designed to test for weaknesses in the parts.

The training school at the Testia site has industry-standard testing facilities so that the trainees are working with the same equipment they will be in the workplace. It is designed so that each trainee can follow the correct procedures for each form of testing and also so they can be examined individually.

Mr Hall said that along with apprentices who are embarking on their careers, the testing facility will also be used for NDT technicians who regularly need to make sure their qualifications are up to date.

He said that a technician who’s qualification has lapsed is unable to work until they have passed it again.

Mr Hall said it was very important that everyone who used the facilities for training knew that they were working on industry-standard equipment. The training school is an exact copy of one at the Toulouse site of EADS but caters for English-speaking trainees and apprentices.