APFT to set up pilot training academy at Kalaburagi Airport

It has signed an MoU with Airport Authority of India (AAI) to establish a flight training organisation on Design, Build, Operate, Maintain and Transfer basis at Kalaburagi Airport for 25 years.

Trainee Aircraft Diamond DA42 at Kalaburagi Airport. (File Photo | Express) 

HYDERABAD:  Hyderabad-based Asia Pacific Flight Training (APFT) will be setting up a training institute at Kalaburagi Airport in Karnataka. According to a press release, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approved aviation academy recently entered into an agreement with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for establishing a flight training organisation on Design, Build, Operate, Maintain and Transfer (DBOMT) basis at Kalaburagi Airport for 25 years. The agreement was signed by APFT CEO Hemanth DP and Kalaburagi Airport Director Gnaneswara Rao.

India is expected to be the third-largest aviation market in the world by 2025 and there is a huge requirement for well-trained pilots in India. Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri stated in Rajya Sabha in September 2020 that India requires 9488 pilots by 2024-25.