Air India has placed an order for 34 trainers for its cadet pilots as the flag carrier prepares to ramp up pilot training ahead of its fleet expansion.
Air India’s new flight training academy, which is set to commence operations in Maharashtra, western India in the second half of 2025, has ordered 31single-engine Piper Archer DXs and three twin-engine Diamond DA42s.
“The FTO, that will be South Asia’s largest, is a leap forward in Air India’s commitment to bolster its training infrastructure as part of its Vihaan.AI transformation programme and cultivate a pipeline of pilots as it expands its fleet, becoming self-reliant,” the airline said in a statement.
The training academy at Amravati Belora airport will target to graduate 180 commercial pilots annually, the airline added.
“The new FTO in Amravati is a strategic move to exponentially expand our training infrastructure and our commitment to building a self-reliant ecosystem of qualified pilots for both Air India and the Indian aviation industry,” Sunil Bhaskaran, director of Aviation Academy of Air India, said.
“With this order, we are delighted to be playing a part in building the aviation infrastructure India needs as one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets and to support the government’s vision for an Atmanirbhar Bharat,” he added.
Air India’s new pilot academy is spread across a 10-acre site, comprising digitally enabled classrooms, hostels, a digitised operations centre, and its own maintenance facility.