CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has signed two Memoranda of Understanding with two firms to establish a pilot-training school and a flight-simulator facility costing around Rs 100 crore and Rs 500 crore respectively.
The companies JC Indian Airline Academy and AAG Centre For Aviation Training Private Limited will make their investments probably in an airfield in a southern Tamil Nadu district, according to official sources.
While JC Indian Airline Academy would establish the school, AAG would set up the flight-simulator facility to further train passouts of the school and prepare them to pilot commercial aircraft.
Jonathan Manuel, CEO of JC Indian Airline Academy, told The New Indian Express that they would decide on a site after the Director General of Civil Aviation approved the project. Jonathan, who also established the New Zealand Airline Academy in the Oamaru Airport in New Zealand, said their working model would be different from those of other pilot-training schools.
"Most pilot-training schools around the world use aircraft that are 40-50 years old. Our model is to go for brand new aircraft. So, a significant portion of our investment will go into buying single engine and multi-engine trainer aircraft, the cost of which varies from half a million to a million dollars each," he said.
Academy plans to attract students from other countries
The school would use three aircraft initially but may increase the fleet up to 20. This would be similar to the company’s working model in New Zealand, he said. The firm is also planning to turn the school into a centre of excellence to attract foreign students.
On eligibility, Jonathan said students should have passed Class 12 examination with maths and physics. “Currently, students have to be 18 years old, and we fly them to New Zealand for training,” said Jonathan. His company is a training partner for Air Asia, India.
With AAG planning to set up a flight simulator, Jonathan felt both could work together to train new pilots. After receiving preliminary training, a pilot must obtain a ‘Type’ rating, issued after training or flying hours in a flight simulator. Based on this rating, pilot is assigned a rating to fly commercial aircraft such as A-320 or Boeing 737.
“We have not tapped our potential in commercial aviation. China has 6,600 commercial aircraft while India has only 600-800. We ventured much earlier in aviation and had a fleet of jets... India could have become the hub of aviation,” he said.