Asia’s first Airbus training centre to be set up in New Delhi
The Airbus India Training Centre will support this ground-breaking initiative
Asia’s first Greenfield training facility is being set up by the European aviation major Airbus, which aims to support India’s growing need for airbus aircraft pilots and maintenance engineers.
Airbus is setting up a Greenfield training facility at Aerocity, New Delhi, to support India’s growing need for Airbus aircraft pilots and maintenance engineers. The Airbus India Training Centre will support this ground-breaking initiative. This announcement was made by P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister of Civil Aviation and Tom Enders, CEO, Airbus in the presence of Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation.
Raju said, “India’s rapidly growing passenger aircraft fleet must be matched by adequate availability of skilled pilots and maintenance engineers. Airbus’ pilot and maintenance engineering training centre is the type of facility which will help augment the talent pool of such personnel and thus, be a force multiplier for the Indian aviation sector.”
He also wanted Airbus to think of creating a MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Operations) facility in India to take forward the ‘Make in India’ policy of the government, as this would create employment opportunity.
Enders stated, “We have only scratched the surface when it comes to the growth of civil aviation in India. This training centre will be the first such facility fully owned by us in Asia. It is a symbol of our enduring partnership with this country.”
India is the fastest growing domestic aviation market in the world and is expected to continue to grow at an annualised 9.3 pc over the next 20 years, outpacing the world average of 4.6 pc. The number of trips per capita in India is expected to quadruple by 2035 due to a combination of economic and demographic factors.
To cater to this huge demand, Airbus forecasts a requirement for at least 1,600 new passenger and freight aircraft by 2035. The consequent increase in Indian in-service aircraft fleet will lead to an accompanying need for over 24,000 new pilots and maintenance engineers.
Vistara, the Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines’ joint venture carrier, has become the first customer and signed a five-year agreement with Airbus to provide training to Vistara pilots for the A320 aircraft type.
The training package includes A320 full flight simulation, aircraft procedure training, computer-based classroom training and standard pilot transition training with the support of Airbus instructors.
Phee Teik Yeoh, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara, said, “As India gears up to become the world’s third largest aviation market, it is imperative to have adequate world-class training facilities to ensure a steady pipeline of proficient pilots.”
“We are honoured to have Vistara as the first customer for the Airbus India Training Centre. We will start training their pilots when the centre becomes operational by end-2018,” said Srinivasan Dwarakanath, President, Commercial Aircraft, Airbus in India.
The 7,000 square metre Airbus India Training Centre will be built in a modular concept in order to become operational by end-2018 with two A320 full flight simulators, increasing to four and potentially to six simulators in due course. It will start with an initial capacity to train over 800 pilots and 200 maintenance engineers annually. The centre will cater primarily to Airbus operators in India and the region. Airbus has more than 250 aircraft in service in India and over 570 are on order by Indian airlines.
