By IANS
New York : India’s budget airline IndiGo will now have its pilots trained by a foreign flight academy.
IndiGo and Sabena Flight Academy, which has offices in Brussels, Belgium, and in Arizona, USA, have signed a long term ‘Pilot Training Services Agreement’.
Under the agreement, Sabena will train Indian pilots for IndiGo in its subsidiary, Sabena Airline Training Centre in Arizona, as well as offer its simulator facility in Brussels for “multi crew cooperation and type rating course” on A320 aircraft.
Pointing to Sabena’s reputation for providing world class pilot training, Steve Harfst, IndiGo’s chief operating officer, said: “Their focus on safety and their new fleet of glass-cockpit equipped Diamond aircraft will ensure that our cadet pilots will get the best training available as they work toward earning their commercial pilot licences.”
Sabena’s President and CEO Jack Waldeyer said that they were already training over 200 Indian pilots in Arizona.
“Our collaboration with IndiGo is not only widening our market share but is also opening new business perspectives in India for our company,” Waldeyer said.
Selection tests for IndiGo-Sabena cadet programme will be held in different cities in India.
A subsidiary of InterGlobe Enterprises Ltd, Gurgaon-based IndiGo is a low-fare domestic airline started in 2006.
It currently operates 108 daily flights with a fleet of sixteen A320 aircraft and flies to 16 destinations including all the Indian metros. The airline is to take delivery of seven more A320s this year.
Approved by the Joint Aviation Authorities that oversees aviation safety, Sabena specialises in cadet training, aviation consulting and high-tech simulation development. They cater to both airlines and self sponsored pilot candidates.