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Marijus Ravoitis, Chief Executive Officer, BAA Training Aviation Academy. Pic: livemint.comd
As Indian airlines place large orders for aircraft, pilot training academies of the world are looking to tap this demand. The BAA, a major European pilot training academy, aims to secure 20-30% of the pilot creation capacity in India over the next 5-10 years.
“We are looking at a 10-year strategic plan here," says Marijus Ravoitis, chief executive officer, BAA Training Aviation Academy. "In the next five years, 1800-2000 new pilots will be needed each year; we aim to have 20-30% of that number. That means 500 pilots have to be trained to meet Indian carriers' demands.”
The recent order of 470 aircraft by Air India in February 2023, 500 aircraft by IndiGo, and another 150 by Akasa Air have piqued the interest of global aviation players and made their presence in this market crucial.
‘We are watching how the market is growing," Mr. Ravoitis said, "Generally, it requires 12-15 pilots per aircraft.” Ravoitis.
The Lithuania-based company currently provides type rating (a certification for a particular kind of aircraft such as A320 or B737 ) to pilots. The aircraft orders by Akasa Air, Air India, and Air India Express led the BAA to set up a consultancy centre at Gurugram in Oct 2023.
Centres in Mumbai, Bengaluru
It has plans to open two more such centres in Mumbai and Bengaluru by September this year. Pilot training has already begun at the Delhi centre with a batch of 10 cadets, and with the two more centres, the BAA aims to take in a batch of 10-15 every second month.
The BAA plans to increase the current annual intake capacity of 300 cadets to 1000 by 2027. While European carriers are the biggest source market for BAA for now, it sees India as its largest market in 10 years intending to dedicate half of the capacity or 500 intake capacity to India.
“We are also talking to another airline in India to expand the partnership or to do it from scratch with pilot training,” Mr. Ravoitis said.
As Indian airlines place large orders for aircraft, pilot training academies of the world are looking to tap this demand. BAA, a major European pilot training academy, aims to secure 20-30% of the pilot creation capacity in India over the next 5-10 years.
“We are looking at a 10-year strategic plan here and given that for the upcoming five years an average of 1800-2000 new pilots will be needed per year, we are aiming to have 20-30% of that number, so that comes to 500 pilots to be prepared based on the Indian carriers plans,” Marijus Ravoitis, chief executive officer, BAA Training Aviation Academy told Mint.
₹1.16 cr for 2-year training
Currently, the BAA inducts aspiring cadets who have completed 10+2 schooling --of course, after an assessment programme. Post selection, the BAA offers a 24-month training for ₹1.16 crore. This includes training in Spain, Lithuania, and Vietnam.
“Already there is a pilot shortage and it's worse when it comes to highly qualified pilots. We aim to complete the training in 24 months. This includes four months in India, 18 months in Spain, and two months for type rating in Europe or Vietnam,” Mr. Ravoitis said. The BAA would only consider the possibility of installing a training simulator in India after studying the growth over the next 5-10 years of its presence in India.
The Indian government has been encouraging flight training companies to open centres because of the anticipated rise in demand for air travel. As of now, government data shows, there are 34 flying training organisations operating from 57 bases.
The growing demand for pilots is also visible in the number of licences issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. In 2023, DGCA issued 1,622 commercial pilot licences; in 2022 1165 licences were issued. Boeing, as part of its pilot outlook in 2023, had estimated a demand for 6,49,000 new pilots over the next 20 years.
By arrangement with livemint.com
