By IANS
New Delhi : A Canada-based aviation firm, CAE, Thursday signed contracts with Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udaan Academy (IGRUA) and Rajiv Gandhi National Flying Training Institute (RGNFTI) to train pilots expeditiously to steer the burgeoning air traffic.
The Canadian firm has promised to churn out 100 pilots per annum to begin with. The training capacity would be enhanced to 200 pilots every year in three years’ time at the government-run flying school. IGRUA presently trains only 40 pilots a year.
The CAE would bring in full-flight simulators and flying training operations with IGRUA under the ten-year expertise contract.
IGRUA, based at Fursatganj in Rae Bareli district of Uttar Pradesh, and the Canadian firm have decided to create new facilities and add training aircraft in 2008-09.
A joint venture agreement has also been signed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the CAE to develop the RGNFTI in Gondia, Maharashtra.
The Gondia-based RGNFTI will have the capacity to train 100 pilots initially. Later, this will be increased to 200 pilots. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will lay a foundation stone for this Institute Feb 9.
RGNFTI will have a state-of-the-art facility equipped with classrooms, a hostel, a library, a workshop, a cafeteria, a guesthouse and a club, said civil aviation ministry officials.
“The school will operate new aircraft. It will use CAE’s courseware and innovative training methodologies. The total investment for RGNFTI is approximately $25 million,” Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla, who was present during the signing of contract, told reporters.
“This step is expected to help augment the availability of pilots and address the shortage of pilots being faced in India due to the high growth in the civil aviation sector. In the next few years there will be around 500 more aircraft and so we require more pilots,” explained Chawla.