Location & Accommodation

Location

The lovely Indian Ocean city of George is situated on the plateau at the foot of the Outeniqua Mountains. It is a pretty resort area with a relaxed atmosphere, which, coupled with continuity of training away from life’s working pressures, guarantees that our students get maximum benefit from each hour they fly.

George is 425km east of Cape Town and 370km west of Port Elizabeth on the Garden Route, which is famous for its lush indigenous forests and beautiful beaches. The airport lies 9 km’s from the city centre. This provides student pilots with some of the most scenic Navigation flights they could hope for.

Flight Training College is based at George Airport, which is the secondary airport to Cape Town International and is equipped to ICAO standards with Radar and Air traffic Control. With our general flying areas and alternative training airfields close by it means that not all our training is carried out at the George Airport. Although George airport does have busy periods during the day, we are fortunate that these are brief spells allowing us as a flight school to get personalised attention from the qualified air traffic controllers. The airport has full fire fighting and emergency facilities and FTC is positioned just 50 meters from the main taxiway.

George Airport is fully equipped to international standards with ATC, VOR, DME and ILS for day and night instrument landing conditions.

Accommodation

We are happy to assist in making arrangements for your accomodation during your stay in George. Depending on the length of stay and different budgets, we make use of various lodgings in and around town. The following are a few of the more popular selections utilized by our students:

Romesleigh House (Town Centre)
Vleiland
African Sun Guest House (George)
Itula Guest Farm (George)
Dutton’s Cove Guest House (Heroldsbay)
George Student Stay (George)

Rental Accommodation

Many long term students prefer to make their own arrangements and rent furnished houses or apartments, sometimes sharing their costs with fellow students. This can be difficult if you are not a resident in South Africa, so many foreign students opt for the Bed and Breakfast type of accommodation as listed above.

All accommodation is subject to confirmation and availability. Generally availabilty is good throughout the year, but students may find trying to book accommodation over the December peak period difficult unless they have booked well in advance.

Please contact us for current rates for all these options and visit gardenroute.co.za

Recreation

Flight training is serious business and we encourage our students to eat, sleep and drink aviation. George is a marvelous city and offers many exciting diversions from an otherwise demanding flying course.

Nearby is Oudtshoorn, famous for the Cango Caves and ostrich, cheetah and crocodile farms. Knysna, famous for its oyster farms and homecrafts, is 60km’s away and George boasts Fancourt, an exquisite country golfing estate. There are several famous golf courses scattered between George and Plettenberg Bay, all designed by players such as Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Ernie Els. The Presidents Cup was held here in 2003 and several more tournaments are planned.

Surfing is excellent at the well-known Vic Bay. Outdoor activities include boating, fishing and deep-sea angling, tennis, squash, hiking, bowling, horse riding, scuba diving and water skiing. For the more adventurous there is caged shark diving, bungee jumping and paragliding with our schools CFI. Mossel Bay also has a very active Skydiving Club. Whale watching is spectacular in the months between August and December.

Other amenities include a fitness centre, ample doctors, dentists, opticians, ambulance and rescue services. There are numerous clubs, pubs, hotels and restaurants.