It was one of nine regional cities in the running released by the Qantas Group on Friday.

Tamworth and Wagga Wagga are the two other NSW cities to progress through to the next stage, after more than 60 locations across the country put in a submission.

The training base, due to open its doors in 2019, is part of the Qantas Group’s plans to build a long-term talent pipeline for its airlines and meet the increasing need for skilled aviators in one of the world’s fastest growing industries.

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More than 60 regional cities put forward a proposal and nine regional cities across Australia, strongly supported by state and territory governments, have now been selected to move to the next phase of the process:

Dubbo mayor Ben Shields says it is excellent news for the community and Qantas has recognised the real potential that Dubbo now has to secure this much anticipated facility.

“From the outset we have made it abundantly clear that Dubbo is the perfect location for the new Qantas Pilot Academy,” Cr Shields said.

“The formal submission emphasised the strategic location of Dubbo City Regional Airport as well as the capacity to quickly establish the Academy so it can be operational by 2019.”

“Being shortlisted presents Dubbo as viable location and there is now a very real possibility that Dubbo could be the home of the new Qantas Pilot Academy,” he said.

The Qantas Group Pilot Academy management team will visit these nine cities in coming weeks and meet with community leaders, suppliers and airport operators to further evaluate the feasibility of each location.

A final decision on the academy’s location is expected to be made in the third quarter of this year.

“I look forward to meeting with The Qantas Group Pilot Academy management team and further showcasing the reasons why Dubbo should be chosen as the home of the Pilot Academy,” Cr Shields said.

Dubbo Regional Council will continue to work with the State Government and Qantas to meet any additional requests for information.

“Our case is very strong,” Cr Shields said.

“With state government and community support we can show Qantas that establishing the Pilot Academy in Dubbo is the best option.

“I would like to thank the Dubbo Regional community who have publicly supported Dubbo’s bid and congratulate the council staff and stakeholders for developing such a strong submission in what was a nationally, very competitive bidding process.”

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Estimates suggest the global airline industry needs more than 640,000 more pilots over the next 20 years – 40 per cent of them in the Asia Pacific region.

Last month regional cities and state governments were invited to coordinate their applications, putting forward their best case to be the home of the new pilot academy.

Criteria included access to uncongested airspace, a certain number of clear weather days per year and infrastructure to support and accommodate up to 100 students in the first year of operation.

Qantas Group Pilot Academy executive manager Wes Nobelius thanked all the regional cities and state and territory governments for their time and interest.

“The way that communities have come together to develop some outstanding proposals has been fantastic,” he said.

“From ideas around scholarships to a community photo shoot in Mackay and a video message from the children of Dubbo, we’ve been really impressed with the quality of responses and the level of support on offer.

“Narrowing down the possible locations from more than 60 to just nine wasn’t easy. It will be harder still to whittle this down to just one.”

Mr Nobelius said cities could still be in contention to host a second academy if the demand for pilots was strong enough – including training foreign students on behalf of airlines overseas.

“We think there could be enough demand from the broader industry for us to train up to 500 pilots a year, and to do that we’re likely to need two separate academies because of the practical realities of trying to do that much training in a single location.

“Training on this scale represents a commercial opportunity for Qantas but it’s also about contributing to a talent pipeline that we rely on for more senior pilots down the track. These graduates might fly for other airlines, join the defence force or be part of services like the Royal Flying Doctors.

“The applications from cities that we’ve seen through this process show regional cities have the capacity to help make Australia a regional hub for pilot training, and the potential benefit that could bring for local economies is huge,” he added.

Figures released by Qantas last month show that the national carrier contributed more than $5 billion to the economy in regional Australia in FY17 and supported more than 40,000 jobs.

The Qantas Group is in separate discussions with several training providers and will be releasing a formal tender process in coming weeks.