Airbus to set up India training centre with $40 mn investment

Hyderabad: Betting big on Indian aviation market, European aircraft maker Airbus today said it will set up a state-of-the-art pilot and maintenance training centre in the country with an initial investment of USD 40 million.

The facility will come up in the National Capital Region (NCR) and would be in line with Skill India initiative of the Indian Government, said Srinivasan Dwarakanath, President of Airbus Division, India.

Airbus, which expects Indian market to grow at twice the rate of the worldwide aviation market, said the work on the training centre will commence from 2017 and it will churn out around 8,000 Airbus pilots and 2,000 maintenance engineers in the next 10 years, beginning 2018.

The centre will be fully owned by Airbus Group India with training to be delivered by Airbus' specialised training instructors. The centre will be built in a modular concept in order to accommodate four A320 full-flight simulators, with potential to expand.

According to Airbus' latest global market forecast, India requires over 1,600 passenger and freighter aircraft in the next 20 years to 2034, with an accompanying demand for new pilots and maintenance engineers.

"On an average, one Airbus aircraft per week is expected to be delivered to Indian carriers over the next 10 years. The need for top quality training will be perpetual," Dwarakanath said.

This investment in a training centre is a key strategic Airbus initiative in line with the country's 'Skill India' programme launched last year by the Indian government to develop a wide range of advanced competencies.

Airbus said it is committed to offering the best-in-class training skills comparable anywhere worldwide.

"Our new training centre underscores Airbus' long-term vision to equip pilots and engineers with superior flying and maintenance skills to operate and maintain contemporary and next-generation Airbus aircraft to be delivered to the airlines of India," said Kiran Rao, Airbus' EVP Strategy and Marketing.

The new centre will accelerate the pace of training to help match the A320neo deliveries to India, Airbus said.

Airbus has been providing maintenance training from its existing centre in Bangalore since 2007, and has so far trained over 2,750 maintenance engineers.