South Asia’s biggest flying training school to come up in Amravati

 

 

 

 

 

In a significant development, Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) in collaboration with Air India is establishing the largest Flying Training Organisation in South Asia at Amravati’s Bellora airport. This will be India’s first flying training school to be run by an airline company. As per plan, the flying school will have world class infrastructure built by MADC and Air India. It is likely to start its operations by April-May 2025 and be fully functional by mid-2026. This flying institute, licensed by Directorate General of Civil Aviation would lead to the major transformation in the aviation industry as India is facing the issue of shortage of pilots. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Air India and MADC for the collaborative venture. A high-powered team from Air India led by Sunil Bhaskaran, Director Aviation Academy, Air India, was in Amravati sketching the ground-level plans of the ambitious project.

 

Vice-Chairperson and Managing Director of MADC, Swati Pandey while elaborating the details, said, “This is the collective initiative of MADC and Air India that will have intake of 180 who will be trained as commercial pilots on 31 single engine and three twin engine aircraft. The training programme includes 36,000+ flight hours each year, the highest by any Indian Flying Training Organisation (FTO). MADC has given Air India 10-acres of land to develop the state-of-the-art training institute at Amravati. The classrooms will be digitally-enabled. The students who stay out of Amravati will have well-equipped hostels following global academic standards. There will be a digitised operations centre, and its own maintenance facility to elevate operational efficiency. I am sure that the project will enable the aspiring pilots to embark on a journey towards fulfilling their dreams of becoming skilled aviators.”