Airbus, CAE to set up pilot training centre in Bangalore

Bangalore, Feb 6 (UNI) Keeping in view the rapidly growing Indian aviation industry, the world's biggest aircraft maker Airbus is setting up a training centre along with Canada's CAE to train up to 1,000 pilots annually near the international airport at Devanahalli.

Announcing this to newspersons here, Airbus Executive Vice- President (Marketing and Contracts) Kiran Rao said that besides pilot training, Airbus would also be offering full training for maintenance and cabin crew. A complete range of flight operations support would be offered to airlines, he explained.

He said Airbus had realised the strategic importance of opening a training centre in India, with the Indian aviation industry growing rapidly and facing significant pilot shortages. Establishing the training centre also demonstrated the company's continued commitment to providing training solutions worldwide. The centre would be initially staffed by Airbus instructors for Airbus equipment and CAE instructors for other aircraft. CAE would continually update the simulators with the latest aircraft software. Eventually, the centre would be operated by around 30 Airbus or CAE trained local instructors, he added.

Mr Rao said Indian carriers operated around 200 aircraft now and needed roughly about 1,100 new aircraft in the next two decades, creating a demand for around 1,000 pilots per year for the next five years. India would also see growth in the cargo sector with the need for around 160 new freighter aircraft in the next two decades.

MORE UNI