Air India to set up South Asia’s largest flying school in Amravati
Air India to establish South Asia's largest Flying Training Organisation in Amravati, India by mid-2026, creating 3,000 jobs
Air India will set up South Asia's largest Flying Training Organisation (FTO) at Amravati in the Vidarbha area. This FTO will strengthen the available pilot training capacity in India.
The Amravati airport runway was recently expanded by the state-owned Maharashtra Airport Development Company. Managing director Swati Pandey said, "The infrastructure in Belora airport was recently upgraded and it now has the instrument-landing and the night-landing systems."
The flying school will be operational by mid 2026 and 180 commercial pilots will pass out every year.
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The FTO, the first by any Indian airline in the country, will have 31 single-engine and 3 twin-engine aircraft for training.
Air India was awarded a tender by the MADC to establish and operate this DGCA-licensed FTO for a period of 30 years.
Campbell Wilson, MD CEO, Air India, said: "It is a significant step towards making Indian aviation more self-reliant. The young pilots coming out of this FTO will fuel Air India's ambition of becoming a world-class airline, as it moves ahead in its transformation journey."
The collaborative initiative between MADC and Air India will create over 3,000 new employment opportunities within the aviation sector, and, also, generate employment in other allied ventures, contributing over Rs. 1,000 crore to the state's GDP over the next decade.
The flying school will be spread over 10 acre, with smart classrooms, world-class hostels, digitized operations centre, and its own maintenance facility to elevate operational efficiency.
Meanwhile, the MADC has been expanded from 1370 to 1850 metre, so that it can be used for ATR and Q400 planes. The project, which was pushed by the then President Pratibha Patil, whose son Rajendra Shekhawat was an MLA from the state, has since been taken forward by Devendra Fadnavis, whose mother hails from Amravati.
